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TICKFORD AND WATERS: THE NEW STANDARD

CAMERON WATERS and Tickford are on a high after getting their first-ever clean sweep together at Sydney’s opening round of the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship.

Waters blew the field away by dominating the weekend, topping every single session and race aside from opening practice (when he had two purple sectors on his hot lap, but suffered a kerb strike).

Not only was it Waters first ‘perfect’ weekend, but it was the first time he had won consecutive races in his 278-race career.

It was the clearest sign that Tickford are ready to take the fight for the title all the way to the new-spec Finals, having been in the top four in each of the last seven years.

Waters was the class of the field in three contrasting races that each featured unique conditions – from tyres, distance, track conditions and temperature.

Tickford has never started a season so well and, even in its championship year of 2015, it did not win a race in Adelaide’s season-opener, with Waters. Sunday at Newcastle in 2023 remains the team’s only previous win at a season opener.

It is a massive contrast to this time last year when Waters sat a lowly 20th in the championship after a weekend from hell:

“A lot has changed,” Waters said when asked to compare the two season openers.

“Obviously Bathurst last year was very … I was sick, and slow, and we had spindles break …

“That helped us work out what we needed to do better – and change across that three-month period improved our package.

“Across the second half of last year we were really competitive – that set us up for this weekend.”

For Waters, who until Sydney had won one-off races at 13 separate race weekends prior, finally sweeping all the winner’s trophies means a lot:

“It was very special to clean sweep, the whole weekend,” he said.

“You can win a race and then conditions change and someone else’s car will be better – so the fact our car worked in all conditions shows how good my team is.

“It will be a real test to go to different race-tracks and see if we can be as competitive.”

Tickford Team Manager Matt Roberts said the team’s rise can be traced back much further back than just the latest off-season.

“During our Bathurst (1000) prep last year we shifted our focus,” he said.

“We have gone from having to change/improve on the one-

percenters in order to track down these guys (Triple Eight) to the quarter or half of a percent.

“We have narrowed our focus. We are not looking so broadly and have been really detailed on everything we have done.

“We maintained everything over the off-season and continuity. Zero (personnel) turnover and good morale means we are in a good spot.

“A lot of focus went into this weekend and hopefully we can build on this into the Grand Prix.”

As a result, Waters has every right to dream about an elusive title challenge.

“The last few years I feel like they were good chances, but this is the best we have started for sure,” he said.

“I have really good people around me that are working well so I have a good shot – for sure.”

Albert Park will be a good indicator

– it’s a track that Waters has never won at before and last stood on the podium back in 2019.

If the Tickford’s Green Monster, and team-mate Thomas Randle’s Castrol Mustang, are to present a serious challenge to the Triple Eight steamroller – by first chasing the Sprint Series crown, before the all-new Finals series squares things up and starts all over in its later stages – then transferring Sydney’s form down the highway to Melbourne will be a good start.

Supercars has been allocated slightly increased track time as it supports the Grand Prix, with 19-lap sprints on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and a 14-lap Race 4 on Sunday.

In a first, brought on by F2 and F3’s Paddock needs, the Supecars Paddock will be situated on the outside of the final corner – allowing access by much-increased numbers of fans. Thomas Miles

F1 TESTING: SAINZ LEADS BUT IT’S McLAREN WHO SHINES

AUTO ACTION’S F1 MAN-ON-THE-SPOT, LUIS VASCONCELAS, WAS THERE AS THE F1 TEAMS COMPLETED THE THREE DAYS OF PRE-SEASON TESTING IN BAHRAIN …

NEW WILLIAMS recruit Carlos Sainz set the fastest time of the pre-season test session in Bahrain, but it was McLaren that emerged from the three days of running as the favorite for the early part of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship.

The unusual weather conditions experienced in Bahrain made it harder to analyse the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the 10 teams, but race simulations tend to be a good indication of the cars’ real pace .

And while Mercedes and Ferrari showed a decent amount of speed, the two McLarens were faster than their rivals when doing Grand Prix distances roughly at the same time.

Red Bull, on the other hand, failed to do any race distance – Lawson’s attempt on Thursday being cut short by a water leak, while Verstappen’s focus on the last day shifted to find performance after a difficult morning in the new RB21.

Lando Norris’ race simulation at the end of the second day of testing in Bahrain caught everyone’s attention, as the British driver was considerably faster than Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli, who also completed 57 laps with two real pit stops roughly at the same time.

At the end of that Grand Prix distance, Norris was half a minute quicker than the Ferrari driver and

over one minute faster than the young Italian. Given that race simulations are the only occasion during testing where you know how much fuel was on board at the start of a run, that’s the only direct comparison that can be made between the cars and the reason why McLaren emerged from Bahrain as the hot favorite for the early part of the season.

Team Principal Andrea Stella did his usual good job at trying to downplay the expectations, but even the Italian had to admit that to have such performance on a track that hasn’t been kind to his team since the new regulations came into play had to be considered a positive sign for McLaren.

Stella stated that “this week the conditions were so unique that

they may be masking some of the traditional issues that we may be having and certainly are making, traction requirements, stability much easier because the lap times are incredibly fast.

“I think we are seeing the good side of what the operating conditions can be for a Formula 1 car. I think once we come here for the race it will be more difficult, more difficult for everyone, and certainly more difficult for us.”

As the Italian mentioned, it was unusually cold in Bahrain, especially during the first two days of testing, so with everyone primarily running with the three hardest compounds of Pirelli’s range – the ones that will be used come the Grand Prix in the middle of April – traction was an issue for all the drivers with many

small off-track excursions being the consequence.

And after looking quite user-friendly in the first two days, it was clear McLaren went a bit too far with its Friday experiments, as both Norris and Oscar Piastri struggled to get clean laps in. With slightly higher temperatures, the rear tyres were going off before the end of the lap and, with wind gusts making life difficult for everybody, they had a few issues in the last two corners, as well as in Turn 11, the three corners more exposed to the wind in this part of the desert island.

FERRARI AND MERCEDES CLOSELY MATCHED LEWIS HAMILTON quickest of the title contenders, having done his low fuel run in the more favorable conditions experienced on Thursday, but a gearbox issue cut his Grand Prix simulation short.

Nevertheless, the excitement of joining Ferrari is still running high and the veteran was far more enthusiastic about the SF-25 than team mate Charles Leclerc, the Monegasque making it clear that “we still have quite a bit of work to do,” nevertheless conceding that “this was a positive test in spite of the inconsistent

Playing games – Forget fastest times – race simulations are the only reliable guide from pre-season testing, and the data from Bahrain suggests McLaren may have the upper hand ... despite not registering a ‘fastest lap’ in the top six. Above: Ferrari, with ‘new-boy’ Hamilton and his engineers are working hard to ‘sort’ the SF-25. Images: GETTY IMAGES

Mercedes team leader George Russell was quickest on the second day (Sainz and the two Ferrari drivers went faster on Day 3) – but the W16 Mercedes still seems a few-tenths short on race pace. The Mercedes duo completed 458 laps to top the mileage charts. Below: Both Red Bull drivers had uncomfortable moments ...

weather that made life difficult for all of us.”

Mercedes didn’t seem far off Ferrari’s pace, with George Russell setting the fastest time on the last day of testing, when the track was slower than in the first two days. But doing a race simulation at the same time as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, the Brit lost, on average, half a second a lap when they both ran on used C3 tyres and was still marginally slower in the second stint even though he ran it with the C2 compound and the man from Melbourne had the harder C1 tyres on his car.

Still, given that the major issues that affected the previous three Mercedes seem to have been ironed out with the W16, Russell and Antonelli left Bahrain in positive mood, the Italian proving yet again he’s got a tremendous amount of speed but showing that avoiding mistakes will be his main target as he often locked the front brakes on the heavier

braking areas, the 18-year-old pushing the boundaries often to try and understand where the real limits are.

RED BULL HAS WORK TO DO

SEEING MAX Verstappen just a couple of tenths off the quickest lap times of the week may lead you to believe the RB21 is at least as competitive as the direct competition, but the reality is that the Dutchman and his team left Bahrain with a lot of work to do.

The Austrian team was the only one that couldn’t complete a Grand Prix simulation in Bahrain and several major aerodynamic changes – including trying a new floor and a completely new nosecone on the last day of running – failed to bring any significant improvement in lap time.

The car also proved extremely difficult to drive, especially using the harder compound tyres and if, eventually, Verstappen found a set-up he could drive on with the C3 tyres,

the RB21 still looked quite a handful, leading the World Champion to have quite a few hairy moments as soon as he tried to push.

Among the other teams it was Alpine that impressed the most, Pierre Gasly being quick and consistent throughout the three days of running, with Jack Doohan adding a solid test to give a confidence boost to the French team.

Williams got the lap times to impress but, according to its rivals, ran slightly lighter than the competition and also

used more aggressive engine modes on the performance runs – which may explain why the experienced Carlos Sainz was no too thrilled at the end of the test.

Haas and Alpha Tauri didn’t look as impressive as early in 2024 but were within striking distance of the midfield, while Aston Martin and especially Sauber never found a lot of performance, the Swiss car looking, by far, the slowest car in the field during the three days of testing.

SYDNEY SHOWDOWN SETS NEW RACING STANDARD

AFTER PRODUCING one of the closest Supercars finishes ever, Cam Waters, Will Brown and Broc Feeney expect more racing leniency from the Stewards.

That is the takeaway after they were allowed to go all-out for glory in a stunning Race 2 of the Sydney 500.

Waters, Feeney and Brown all left witness marks on each other as they battled like crazy for victory, notable for the #6 spinning the #88 at Turn 4, then redressing it, and finally ‘sidedrafting’ past to win in the last few metres.

Notably and thankfully none of the incidents were penalised, ensuring a straight fight for victory could take place.

It was a notable change to the last time ‘rubbin’ was part of deciding moves late in the race at Sydney Motorsport Park in 2023 when Shane van Gisbergen was penalised for a bump and run on Will Brown.

Triple Eight did request Motorsport Australia to take a deeper look into the fight for

victory, but the governing body denied it, ensuring Waters’ epic win stood.

Both defeated Triple Eight teammates expect more ‘rubbing and racing in the future.

“There was a fair bit of contact in that race but I think they have shown they are going to let you race a fair bit harder by the looks of it,” a ‘gutted’ runner-up Feeney said.

“I think with the redress, Cam let me back side-by-side and I think that was not super great.

“Then the last corner he tried to redress once again and tried to slipstream past me.

“Everyone is probably going to agree now that is how we race.

“It will be a new style that we will approach this year if we are allowed to bump and race each other.

“With finals coming and what has happened over the last couple of years there has been a lot of talk over how they want to go about racing.

“We are starting to go down the NASCAR style where, in general,

you can rub a little bit more, so I think we were all running into each other a lot and that is what a lot want to see.

“That is one of the best races we have seen in a while.”

Despite having a similar take, Brown admitted he worries there could now be an inconsistency between when fighting for victory and minor places.

“It is a bit of a grey area now,” the reigning champion said.

“The race was so exciting, so you don’t want to penalise anyone, but also if you do that for fifth place, they will, so it is a grey area.

“That is the hardest thing for us going into the season – if we can do that everyday.

“That race sets a new standard in what we can and can’t do.

“I think it is good though because we need to race hard and need to know what we can and can’t get away with.

“It was great racing at the end of the day.”

Thomas Miles

THE GOLD STAR IS BACK

MOTORSPORT AUSTRALIA has brought back the prestigious Gold Star Award under reimagined criteria to crown the country’s best driver.

From 1957 to 2023 the Gold Star was awarded alongside the Australian Drivers Championship across a variety of categories, most recently S5000, won by Aaron Cameron.

But in 2024, the AASA snatched the Australian Drivers Championship ‘brand’ for the Hyper Racer X1 series that was won by Damon Sterling.

However, in 2025, the Gold Star has been brought back by Motorsport Australia through a points system that will crown the best Aussie driver in the world.

The points will be allocated across four tiers separating the categories both in Australia and around the world from Formula 1, to Supercars, to Australian Formula 4.

Points will be allocated based on finishing positions within each series, with additional base points awarded for participation and victories in iconic races such as the Bathurst 1000, Indy 500, Le Mans, Daytona 500, Daytona 24 Hours, and the Monaco Grand Prix.

“The Gold Star Award is an important recognition of Australian motorsport excellence,” said Lisa Crampton, Sporting and Technical Director, Motorsport Australia.

“Its return not only honours our current champions but also inspires the next generation of drivers to achieve greatness on the global stage.”

Thomas Miles

GOLD STAR TIERS

TIER 1: Formula 1, World Endurance Championship (WEC), IndyCar

TIER 2: Supercars, NASCAR, Formula 2, Porsche Supercup, Formula E, IMSA

TIER 3: National GT, Carrera Cup, National TCR, Formula 3, Australian Formula 4

TIER 4: Other National, Formula 4 categories

The Saturday night race at SMP became a bit physical – but it was a classic. Image: PETER NORTON EPIC SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

OFF TO A GOOD START

INTRODUCTION OF several new elements to the Supercars Championship looks to be going well, according to Supercars GM, Motorsport, Tim Edwards.

Edwards addressed the performance of those new aspects within a feature interview, in Auto Action Premium –AA’s brand new monthly print magazine, on sale shortly.

First to be addressed was the overall response to the yearlong format change and the Finals concept, and how it was communicated to teams and drivers:

“It helps having experienced it on the other side – what the teams have to deal with and how they manage their workforce,” Edwards explained.

“I enjoyed bringing what we’ve done this year to life. And there’s a lot of ‘selling’ to make sure all the team owners are comfortable with it.

“And obviously, closer to the announcement time, personally explaining it to all the drivers so that they understood it because, at the end of the day, they’re the guys that speak to you, to the media and the fans more than I do, and so they’re our biggest ambassadors.

So it was making sure that they were comfortable and

understood what we’re doing.

“Eventually you go ‘okay, everybody’s accepting what we’ve put forward here’. “

The second key new feature is Dunlop’s revised tyre. How did that go?

“You couldn’t make a judgment call on the tyres purely from that one weekend. I think it was definitely a positive, but you’ve got to go through all different tracks and different degradations – we’ll come across all that over

the next few rounds to fully answer that question.

“It was certainly a good first hitout. There were no issues with them. There were compliments from some of the drivers that they felt that, even though there was degradation, they could still race on it.

“So as a first hit-out, I think it was a very good start. Hard to rate it though because you can’t just take one snapshot and say ‘oh, it’s an eight out of 10 for that’

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It’s hard and it’s fast and sometimes it’s a bit rough, but we call it how we see it and pull no punches.

Plenty of analysis and lots of opinion from some of the most experienced motorsport media people in the business - Bruce Williams, Andrew Clarke and Melinda Price.

because it’s gonna take multiple rounds for us to form that view.”

And finally, the reversion to NASCAR-style fuel churns for refuelling:

“I think it worked quite well, particularly because the teams didn’t have a huge amount of time to practice with them beforehand –they only arrived in the country a week and a bit before.

“So we put the teams under pressure to try and learn about them and how to use them and there’s a few tweaks that we’ve still got to make which will happen for Taupo.

“But I think it was a very good first hit-out – obviously we saw one get stuck on a car, but the reality is that nozzle is the same nozzle that goes on the hose … so I’d prefer to see a car drive off with a churn on it, than dragging a tower down the pit lane!”

Edwards confirmed that, for obvious reasons, when racing switches into long-distance mode, the fuel towers will return: “The last five rounds of the year are with the towers. So we use the churns all the way up to the end of Queensland Raceway and then take the nozzle off, put it onto the hose for the towers, and then use that for the last five rounds.”

NEW EPISODES OUT EVERY WEDNESDAY

MERCEDES TO FLY AGAIN (WITH TWO AUSSIES) AT LE MANS

JUST OVER a quarter of a century since Mercedes last entered the world’s greatest sports car race, the German marque will be back in 2025 and, in a real blast from the past, the Aussie flag will be on the side of one of its contenders

Father-and-son pair Stephen and Brenton Grove will be driving one of three factory-prepared MercedesAMG LMGT3s in the Le Mans 24 Hour classic in June.

Mercedes has introduced an all-new GT3 car for 2025, a car developed in-house rather than with its favoured supplier HWA motorsport. The race team will be overseen by Iron Lynx, which has severed its ties as the factory-backed Lamborghini works team

They will share a car with Mercedes works driver Luca Stolz in the iconic French sports car endurance epic having won an automatic invitation earned by winning the 2024 European Le Mans Series LMGT3 championship.

“We are excited to line up one

additional car in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and we are proud to represent Mercedes-AMG in their return edition with an expanded program,” said Iron Lynx CEO Andrea Piccini.

“Both Stephen and Brenton have a good amount of experience, and they are a valuable addition to the team. Luca is an outstanding driver. I used to be team-mates with him in the past, and I know he is extremely

talented and experienced. He is somebody that the team can truly rely on.”

For the Groves, heading to Le Mans – not only as competitors but as part of Mercedes’ first factory assault in 26 years – is about as good as it gets.

“To have the opportunity to compete in the biggest race in the world alongside my father and Luca

is definitely my career highlight,” said Brenton Grove who, as well as his father, will make his Le Mans debut in June.

“I’ve watched the race since I was a little kid, so to experience the atmosphere and be in the race during its golden years is something truly special. I can’t wait for the challenge.”

For the elder Grove, Stephen, Le Mans should be extra special after surviving a truly horrendous crash in this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour in his own Mercedes GT3 when he collided with the Mercedes of fellow Aussie Kenny Habul over the top of the Mountain and not only hit the wall but almost launched backwards over it.

He clambered from the wreckage looking like a man who had picked a bar fight with Mike Tyson, groaning in pain and struggling to breath, with injuries that included a smashed verterbra in his spine.

For more – check out Webster’s View, page 24 ...

RANDLE ENCOURAGED BY STRONG START

WHILST ALL of the attention was understandably on his Tickford teamate, Thomas Randle also enjoyed his strongest start to a Supercars season at Sydney Motorpsort Park.

A third, sixth and 11th left Randle a solid sixth in the championship, well above the Sprint Cup finals cut-off.

Having only achieved one top 10 across the previous six seasonopening races he has started in his career, the #55 driver has never enjoyed such a strong start.

Randle started with a bang by snatching a podium place from Matt Payne on the final lap of the Friday night opener and backed that up with sixth under the Saturday stars.

Whilst he fell just short of the top 10 on Sunday, he was a fraction off in qualifying and lamented getting

stuck behind former #55 driver David Reynolds in the opening stint and elected to play it safe in the rain.

The results also further solidified Tickford’s position at the top of the teams standings and ensured it will be the leading team in pit lane at Albert Park for the first time in its 22-year history.

Randle was thrilled to be a part of it and genuinely fighting up the front.

“It is my best start to a season,” he told Auto Action. “Probably because the last race was my worst of the weekend I am not as much of a high as I would have been after Friday.

“Cam and the team had an amazing weekend, which was incredible.

“This is not my strongest track, so to come away with sixth in the championship and leading the teams’

championship still makes it really solid, especially because I was not that confident after the test day.

“I will keep trying as hard as I can and the team is in a really good spot.

“There is a family vibe in the garage is great and Cam and myself have a great connection.

We are all working really well together and it shows in the results.

“At one point last year we were eighth in the teams’ championship, so

its great to be up here.”

He also gave the thumbs-up to the new Dunlop soft tyre, which proved durable on the tyre-chewing SMP surface.

“It will reset each round, especially because this track has the highest deg, so it is hard to read,” he said.

“The tyre did not deg as much as the old tyre and it handled the wet well with no one going off the road.”

Thomas Miles

Image: PETER NORTON EPIC SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

From Bathurst to Le Mans with Mercedes – interesting times for the Groves ...

GM NOT GOING ANYWHERE

IN

THE WAKE OF TRIPLE EIGHT’S SHOCK DEFLECTION, GENERAL

ISSUED A SIMPLE STATEMENT THAT IT IS HERE TO STAY ...

RESPONDING TO the news that the homologation team of the Chevrolet Camaro and winner of nine of GM’s last 10 titles will return to Ford, GM’s Chris Payne has made it clear that “we ain’t done yet.”

On the eve of the season opening Sydney 500, the leaders of Chevrolet Racing’s Australian program broke the brand’s silence following the big news.

Removing any doubts over the longterm future of GM in Supercars was a welcome relief for the thousands of fans given it has accumulated 665 wins compared to Ford’s 429.

The loss of Triple Eight is hard to over-estimate given the combination has won 209 races since joining forces in 2010.

If Triple Eight had been racing Mustangs last year, the top five teams in the championship were Fords –while the only Camaro driver in the top nine of the 2025 championship after Sydney is Anton De Pasquale. If that was not enough, Chevrolet must select a new homologation team from one of Erebus Motorsport, PremiAir Racing, Matt Stone Racing, Brad Jones Racing or Team 18, none of which have any such experience.

Despite the incredible success enjoyed with Triple Eight, Payne

knows the same process cannot be used without them. As a result, GM and Chevrolet is currently using a collective approach with its incumbents, which was fully evident at Sydney where representatives walked up and down the paddock talking to not only all of its current teams, but some Ford squads as well.

When asked if there was no obvious replacement, Payne agreed that was the case, which makes his task even more difficult.

“I think that is reasonably fair,” he replied.

“Triple Eight has set a benchmark in the sport that will be remembered for many decades and this requires a different approach.

“It is a very different dynamic within the teams.

“I think the challenge is to harness that and bring the best of everybody to the track.

“Each of the teams have their own particular style and operation and ownership structure and resources.

“The challenge here is to pull all of that together and make them collectively competitive with the car.

“That is the best approach and we need work closely with them over the next weeks and months to bring that to reality.

“We are not going to put a definitive

MOTORS MANAGEMENT

timeline on that but be assured we will be acting with urgency.”

Payne said this process has already begun and the Chevrolet team owners are on board.

“There are technical and commercial aspects we need to work through with Supercars,” he said.

“We have discussed at length with all the team owners individually and together and there is a lot of support and enthusiasm to make that happen.

“Our challenge is to execute that in the right way which might take some time to get bedded in because it won’t be easy.

“(But) it will be ready for 2026.”

Despite winning the last four championships and nine of the last 10 Bathurst 1000s, Chevrolet and General Motors have labelled themselves as the underdogs following Triple EIght’s shock deflection to Ford.

“We are collectively with the Chevrolet Racing teams below average losers and, ironically. the decision by Triple Eight positions us, you might argue, as the underdog in the sport all of a sudden,” he admitted.

“When you look at the championship results from 2024, Triple Eight won, but Ford teams were 2, 3, 4 and 5. That is the reality of it. We made up the back half of the grid so there is work to be done.

“But we are ready for the fight and so are the Chevrolet Racing teams for the future.”

Although the Camaro is out of production globally, Bala said she expects the current car to continue in Supercars through to the end of ’27 unless an alternate directive arrives from the United States.

“As far as we know right now, we’re expecting to see the Camaro body racing for the next couple of years,” she said.

“Unfortunately, we’re not privy to what Michigan and Detroit and what HQ is talking about as to what’s next.

“We know they are having those discussions overall but don’t have any detail we can share just yet.”

Either way, GM will be on the grid for the foreseeable future and will be part of a three way battle with Ford and Toyota that begins in 2026.

“I would argue that a significant number of the fan base who attend here and watch the broadcast are still very still very much GM loyalists, regardless of what kind of car they drive to the car park,” Payne said.

“We are embedded in this sport as much as anybody, and we’re not going anywhere.”

Thomas Miles and Andrew Clarke

Image: PACE IMAGES

The Triple Eight duo have been responsible for most GM success .. Image: PETER NORTON EPIC SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

EXPLAINING THE SIDE DRAFT

CAM WATERS PERFECTLY EXECUTED A SIDE-DRAFT TO WIN THAT DRAMATIC SATURDAY RACE AT SYDNEY, BUT WHAT IS A SIDE DRAFT? ANDREW CLARKE ATTEMPTS AN EXPLANATION ...

UNDERSTANDING HOW the air moves around a moving car is the key to understanding any draft, especially the complex, risky, but powerful side-draft exploited by Cam Waters at Sydney Motorsport Park. The beauty of the draft is that it keeps working all the way, slowing the lead car and speeding up the chasing car.

So how does it work?

We all know about the hole created in the air behind a car, which is generally more significant with more downforce. This means the current Gen3 Supercar creates less of a hole than previous generations. This is also why the bump-draft exists in NASCAR, with the car behind using the hole to push the car in front.

But there is also a hole created on the side as air is forced around the car, a bit like a bow wave on a boat but without such a pointy nose. An aerodynamic hole is thus created

on the side of the car.

A side-draft involves a car positioning itself alongside a competitor’s vehicle, close enough to disrupt the airflow around both cars. This disruption creates a lowpressure area next to the leading car, reducing drag on the trailing car and allowing it to accelerate more quickly.

To execute a side-draft, a driver must position their car alongside the rear quarter panel of the car they intend to pass. As the trailing car edges closer, it begins to ‘steal’

WAU ON TOYOTA PROGRESS

WAU IS “progressing well” towards its new Toyota era as it starts its final season with Ford badges.

In addition to having another crack at the Supercars title with Chaz Mostert, WAU will also have to balance its priorities with Toyota coming to the category in 2026.

WAU will be the homologation team for the new Toyota Supra GR and the workload will significantly increase as the season goes on.

To assist the team, Toyota arms from Australia, US and Japan are all joining forces.

WAU boss Ryan Walkinshaw said the early signs are promising thanks to the joint effort:

“Everything is going to plan at the moment,” Walkinshaw said.

“We should have something to show everyone towards the second half of the year, but it’s progressing well.

“Toyota have been very, very helpful – from Toyota Australia to Toyota US and in Japan as well, so things are moving forward.

“We’re pretty happy with where we are. Supercars have obviously been very, very helpful in the background as well.”

WAU has not enjoyed factory status since it lost the famous Holden Racing Team name at the end of the 2016 season.

With Mostert having shown plenty of promise in recent years, but not quite being consistent enough, WAU is desperate to mount a serious title assault in the first season of Supercars Finals.

But with the Toyota Supra development to also be in full swing at the same time of year, Walkinshaw is prepared for a tough balancing act of staff, time and resources.

air from the leading car, creating a vacuum-like effect. This effect reduces the aerodynamic drag on the trailing car, giving it a sudden boost in speed. Simultaneously, the leading car experiences increased drag, slowing it down.

The side-draft is most effective on straights or the exit of corners, where cars are travelling at high speeds, and the impact of aerodynamic changes is more pronounced.

Timing and precision are key, as staying too long in this position can

disrupt the trailing car’s stability and control.

Executing a successful side-draft requires impeccable timing and skill. It is easier to get it wrong than right. The driver must gauge the distance accurately and approach the leading car without making contact or at least controlling the contact.

Once the trailing driver emerges from the first draft, it needs to run as close to the lead car as possible. This aerodynamically widens the lead car, which means it needs more energy to punch a hole in the air or it loses top speed.

The car in draft needs to work less than the lead car, and thus, it gets a higher top speed, eventually bursting through to the lead.

We see plenty of side-drafts in NASCAR because it is perfect for ovals but, as Cam Waters showed at Sydney Motorsport Park, it can work just as well on a circuit.

“It’s one of those difficult things, because the race team doesn’t expand and you don’t suddenly have lots of resource that you didn’t have yesterday,” Walkinshaw said.

“As particularly (incumbent General Motors homologation team) Triple Eight would know, the workload increase is pretty dramatic.

“So it is hard to ensure that you’re able to put your all into developing these new cars while also ensuring you’re remaining competitive ontrack.

“But Triple Eight manage to do a good job at that and we’re confident we can do the same.”

Thomas Miles

Image: PETER NORTON - EPIC SPORTS

Perfect spot for the side-draft ... It worked perfectly for Cam Waters. Image: GETTY IMAGES

WATCH YOUR MOUTH

THE DRIVER swearing crackdown has not only frustrated Max Verstappen and the F1 stars, but has even crept into the Supercars world thanks to new FIA guidelines.

Updates to the International Sporting Code published by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem will see swearing fines start from $16,373 AUD for a first offence, while a third offence could lead to a one-month suspension and loss of championship points.

Former driver and now Triple Eight managing director Jamie Whincup labelled the new directive as “quite harsh” and wants to see some more clarity from Supercars.

“It’s a bit of a blanket rule by the FIA across – I think it’s worldwide – (and) it seems quite harsh,” he said.

“I think we probably need a bit more clarity about what’s going to happen and just understand what Supercars’ stance is on policing it as

well – whether they just do it by the letter of the law.

“If you’re heard in the background, 40 metres away, it comes across the airwaves that you were swearing –are you going to get fined or not?

We’re not exactly sure where it all plays out.

“We need to understand the teams are heavily invested in the process.

“It’s not just the drivers out there. If a team member is in the heat of the battle, sometimes they’re more ‘invested.’

“They might have done an allnighter trying to get the cars ready, so they’re massively invested.

“There’s a bit of emotion that can spill over there as well.

“We don’t want team members exposed to big fines at the same time.

“A little bit of understanding to come I’m sure in the next few months.”

BRENDON LEITCH BUZZING FROM SUPERCARS DRIVE

A NUMBER of unexpected faces joined the full-timers cutting laps at SMP and one from left field was Kiwi GT star Brendon Leitch.

Leitch was a surprise driver behind the wheel of the MSR Cameron Crick wildcard #35 Camaro during the preseason test.

The GT World Challenge winner and Lamborghini Super Trofeo South East Asia champion enjoyed around 18 laps at SMP.

“What a beast. A really cool car,” he told Auto Action

“I can’t compare it to anything I have driven before. The closest would be a DBRS9 I drove a few years ago, being sequential gearbox, heal/toe and nonABS.

“It is a really good car and they have the car so well built they brake really late and get on the throttle really well, considering how small the tyre is.

“The difference is it’s just missing a bit of lateral support which I had to get my head around with the locked diff.

“But it was so much fun – I was smiling from ear to ear.”

Leitch admitted the drive was more about circumstances and him getting the chance to taste a Supercar, rather than an enduro audition.

“Unsure,” he replied.

“Coming into the test there were no expectations and it was more of

an opportunity to have a try – and I am grateful for that in the middle of Cameron’s busy weekend.

“No strings attached but that is not to say I would not consider something in the future.

“I have been lucky with how things have panned out and got some attention from teams in the paddock here.

“But Supercars is not something that was really on my radar. I am just focused on the GT racing and still am this year and the future.”

On March 12-14 Leitch will begin his chase for the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America title with Anthony McIntosh and Wayne Taylor racing.

Thomas Miles

Image: PETER NORTON

Brendon Leitch (left) with Cameron Crick.

VAUGHAN MAKING THE MOST OF UNLIKELY SUPER2 SHOT

BRAD VAUGHAN was resigned to the fact that 2024 was his last in Super2 and his Supercars dream – which is why he is making the most of an unexpected shot in 2025.

After two years at Tickford, that netted one win and five podiums, Vaughan’s time at the famous Ford squad came to an end.

Not only that, he thought that so did his time in Super2 and his Supercars dream – until an early unexpected Christmas present arrived from Brad Jones.

“I honestly did not expect to be here doing Super2 again and thought I was finished at the end of last year,” Vaughan told Auto Action in Sydney.

“After Adelaide (last year) we were short of the funds to do it again (at Tickford) and I thought that was it and I would be racing speedway or saloon cars or something.

“It was only a week before Christmas that I got a call from Brad saying ‘what are you doing and would you be interested in this offer?’

“He gave me a lifeline and it was

humbling that someone believed in me.

“There is some light at the end of the tunnel now and the team are great people, so I am enjoying my racing again.”

The results would prove that, as Vaughan finished a close second to Jordyn Sinni in the Sunday race at the SMP opener.

The #80 BJR Commodore raced its way from sixth to second to complete a massive turnaround from Saturday where the South

Australian could not get any higher than 20th.

“Saturday was a nightmare to say the least because we rolled out of the truck with the car set-up so far away from what we needed it to be,” he said.

“We had a big think overnight and changed pretty much every single thing, even the engine.

“It was a completely different race car and something that I am happy about.. The reality is that everyone has a bad day in Super2 at some

point and I just got it out of the way straight away.

“This is the most competitive season I have seen so to bounce back with a podium was great.”

Vaughan also enjoyed plenty of seat time in Bryce Fullwood’s #14 Supercar in Sydney, while he will change gears this weekend as he is one of more than 100 drivers nominated for the AWSR Australian Wingless Sprint Championship at Mildura.

Thomas Miles

AUSSIE RETURNING TO 2025 PIKES PEAK

BRETT DICKIE and the Project Import team will be retuning for the 103rd ‘Race to the Clouds’ for another crack at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb on June 22.

Taking part in the Unlimited class in 2024, Dickie managed to steer his 2L turbocharged 2001 Honda S2000 to 16th outright with a time of 10mins and 27sec, becoming the fastest ever Aussie at the legendary event.

This year will be Dickie’s fourth crack at Pikes Peak, climbing the 20km to the snowy summit without any barriers over 156 turns, rising to a height of 4314.5 metres.

Dickie also announced that, prior

to that, he’ll also contest April’s Super Lap Battle at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas in his Honda. It will be his sixth year with the Californian-based Import team, and the added news of his acceptance for another crack at the mountain was a huge reward for their effort.

“Excited to finally confirm that we are heading back to the mountain,” Dickie said.

“This has been a massive effort from all out sponsors involved, and I can’t thank the team at Project Import enough, they work seven days a week at the shop just to keep the program alive.

“…and thank you to my amazing family – this program takes a massive amount of hours to pull together every year and they have

supported me through every minute of it. Now let’s get that sub-10 and become the fastest Aussie!”

TW Neal

Image: DMAC PHOTOGRAPHY

TARGA REGULATIONS CLOSE TO A RELEASE DATE

WITH TARGA Tasmania set for a historic return on November 16-21, some great news from the desk of TARGA CEO Mark Perry is that the reworked Technical and Sporting Regulations are completed and, will likely be released for competitors in late March.

Although the Park to Peak Mt. Buller was postponed recently, along with the first Targa Academy day, CEO Mark Perry re-iterated the need to maintain a 100% focus on Targa Tasmania’s fruitful return.

It has been over 1000 days since Motorsport Australia suspended `Targa-style’ tarmac rallying, but the TARGA team has never relented in its pursuit to bring the famous event back to the Apple Isle in a relevant way.

No-one wanted a tempered touring event, and that’s not what’s going to happen, with the organisers committed to competitors who own modern GT style cars, ensuring that

the top-class will be able to enter a competitive event.

Perry’s latest communication, straight from the desk of the CEO, has reiterated that commitment, and that the technical and sporting regs are close to a release.

“We haven’t gone anywhere and we are not stopping now after having come this far and overcome many hurdles along the

way,” Perry declared.

“Two years ago, we committed to competitors who own modern GT style cars that we would not abandon them, and we haven’t, and we won’t.

“Could we have come back sooner?  Well, yes, we could have – but it would have no longer been Targa Tasmania (or even a half reasonable tarmac rally to be frank)

and for us, it would have been in a unsustainable way with not enough eligible vehicles and competitors to ensure our future. So we chose to wait and put plans in place to return properly and with Targa Tasmania continuing to be the event we all love.

“We are now living and breathing Targa Tasmania and our output is increasing at a dramatic rate, now that we have a great team of people working very hard.

“In the last week alone, we have completed an update project covering more than 1,000 pages of information needed to deliver Targa Tasmania.

“This includes important competitor information such as technical and sporting regulations along with a myriad of back-end documents that don’t concern competitors too much such as Operational Manuals.”

TW Neal

RACE TASMANIA GEARING UP FOR FIFTH EDITION

TASMANIA’S BEST value motorsport event – Hi-Tec Oils Race Tasmania – put on by ARG, with the dedication of Barry and Garry Rogers of GRM, is gearing up for its fifth edition, on March 22-23.

For the Rogers family, it’s a real passion event on the Apple Isle, with Symmons Plains offering the best fan-friendly environment possible and, with Hi-Tec oils also coming on as Race Tasmania chief sponsor, which will continue through to ARG’s Race Winton, Easter’s Bathurst 6-Hour, and Mallala (alongside the Shahin’s) events.

It will also the first round for the national Trico Trans Am series, with one of the country’s most accessible and entertaining series set for another huge season; as always, it hasn’t failed to attract the big names for its annual trip across the Bass Strait, with over 30 machines expected for Round 1.

Also enjoying its first round for 2025 is the Australian Prototype Series –

with the Australian title once again on the line - as it continues to thrive as Oceania’s premier thoroughbred sports car racing series. It is also the first ever visit to Symmons Plains for the APS.

Another highlight will be the local crews bringing their high revs with the Tassie Tin Tops, as well as an ever-populous grid for the ACL Race Series Hyundai Excels, which has grown to be a popular feature of Race Tasmania.

“It’s a big year for Race Tasmania with it also being the Trans Am opening. From a racing point of view it’s one of the best tracks for the fans,” Barry Rogers told Auto Action.

“You can really get up on that hill at the Hairpin and have a great view of the whole circuit. There’s going to be some really dynamic racing across all the categories.”

“At 50 dollars for both days, and 30 for one, it’s a pretty good deal considering the quality of drivers that are going to be there.

“The ongoing support we’ve had through Events Tasmania is also a huge thing. It seems like an age ago since we first battled to put this on, and for them to press on with us has been fantastic.”

The event will also be live and freeto-air over Saturday and Sunday, with

viewing available via both SBS and Kayo Sports.

Everything kicks off with a preevent media and test day on Friday, March 14, with GRM to test its squad of Trans Am beasts in preparation for the season ahead.

TW Neal

Image: INSYDE MEDIA

JOHNSON’S JOURNEY BACK TO TCM

STEVEN JOHNSON did not receive a trophy, but he won the hearts at the Duggan Family Hotels Touring Car Masters opener in Sydney as he made a celebrated return from his health dramas.

After 215 days on the sidelines battling a health issue, Johnson jumped back behind the wheel of the Hancock Racing BRUT Ford Mustang.

The four-time TCM champion not only finished, but pushed the #33 Mustang into the top five with a consistent weekend where he improved in each race.

It was a fitting location to complete the comeback as Sydney Motorsport Park was the same circuit where Johnson pulled out for the first time.

In the 2024 SMP round, in July, Johnson could only manage three laps in practice before pulling out, leaving Hancock Racing to call up John Bowe at the last minute.

But when TCM returned to Sydney, so did Johnson, warming the hearts of competitors and fans alike.

“It feels good to be back in the paddock and I am here to enjoy it,” he told Auto Action in Sydney.

“I enjoy racing in the category with Russell and all of the guys who are just good fun.

“First and foremost is just to have a good time because we love it.

“I went out gingerly in practice to see how it was and I didn’t feel too bad.

“There were still some limitations there but I am not worried about that.

“There’s a difference between this race meeting last year where I did two laps in practice and I was literally struggling thinking there was no way I could race.

“I still can’t do 15 straight minutes of flat-out racing, so I just need to manage myself.

“When I start to just think about pushing, I get tense in the car and that makes me struggle to breathe.”

The reason why Johnson missed the final three rounds of the 2024 season was due to building respiratory issues.

Despite winning the 2023 Touring Car Masters season, it was during the final two rounds in Bathurst and Adelaide where the 345race Supercars veteran started to experience difficulty behind the wheel.

However, he still fronted up for the start of 2024 and won three races across the first three rounds, but it was increasingly becoming more and more of a battle.

“It was more mentally draining last year because I was not physically able to do what I wanted to do,” he said.

“I just wanted to drive and have fun but I could not do that last year after Darwin.

“Up until Darwin I was just really hanging on and I took a downturn before we arrived here and I just could not do it.”

After pulling out of the Sydney round, Johnson had a mountain to climb to simply go about daily tasks, let alone racing.

“A lot of people have been asking what it is and it is nothing that is a terminal thing,” he said.

“It just came from a virus that I got which really attacked the respiratory system in my lungs.

“There was a long time of testing where there were really no answers and none the specialists knew what was going on.

“It has been a strange one that knocked me around mentally because I felt like I had held my breath for two minutes after just doing my shoe laces.

“There was a point where I did not know if I was going to be able to ever do it any more, so what kept me motivated was the stuff I was doing at home because I could see

a difference, whether it was the walking difference or mowing the lawn.

“There were times where I was puffed from just getting the push mower to the yard.

“Then, after a break I could mow for 10 minutes and have a break and then next time it was 20 minutes.

“Seeing myself improving was great motivation because I knew I was getting closer to racing.”

Now back on track, Johnson said he is slowly, but surely returning to full fitness.

“The motivation was to always come back and my breathing is a lot better now, so I am feeling a lot better,” he confirmed.

“I have improved a lot but week-toweek I am still slowly getting better and ramping up training a bit more.

“At the start I was just walking to get to the driveway and back and then I started building from walking a kilometre, then two and four and a few laps around the lake and then a bit of jogging.

“The improvement between now and Tasmania will be a bigger step again and by mid-year I want to be back to my best and be fitter and stronger than what I was five years ago.”

Thomas Miles

Stevie J – back behind the wheel ... Image: TCM

AMBROSE NASCAR WINNER COMING TO AUSTRALIA

THE CAR Marcos Ambrose drove to NASCAR Cup Series glory will make an appreance at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, this wekend.

Ambrose steered the iconic yellow and black #9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Fusion to famous back-to-back wins at Watkins Glen in 2011 and 2012.

As a result, the car has a famous place in Australian motorsport as it helped the 2003 and 2004 Supercars champion get his breakthroughs at NASCAR’s top level.

Ambrose did it in style as well with the two wins some of the most exciting ever seen.

In 2011 Ambrose bumped his way past Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski across a two-lap dash, which finished under caution.

A year later Ambrose and Keselowski found themselves dicing for lead once again at the former home of the United States Grand Prix.

The #9 Ford sat third at the final lap behind Busch and Keslowski, but a last-corner move on the eventual champion sent the Australian to a famous win.

The car will always have a special place among race fans and now Australians will get to see it on track for the first time, this weekend, in Adelaide ....

To prepare for the debut, the Ambrose car recently hit the track

at Queensland Raceway with the co-driver he raced with in his final full-time Supercars season in 2005, Warren Luff, at the wheel.

The car was imported to Australia by a private collector in 2023, but the test was its first laps in more than a decade. Rebuilt, it apparently put over 800bhp on the dyno.

In further exciting news, the famous ‘Godzilla’ Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 that won both the 1991 and 1992 Bathurst 1000s will also be at the event.

Jim Richards and Mark Skaife dominated the 1991 race in a record time that stood for 19 years before going back-to-back in infamous fashion in the rain in ‘92 when it crashed at the top of the Mountain during some red flag madness.

The 1991 and 1992 Skyline GT-R R32 are restored to their original liveries and specifications and will feature in the Touring Car Legends category alongside the 1989 Bathurst 1000-winning Dick Johnson Racing Ford Sierra RS500, Holden Dealer

Team ‘last of the Big Bangers’ Holden VK Commodore and more.

For DJR fans who were hurt that their man did not win the 1992 Great Race, they will get to see the Dick Johnson Mustang that won the very first Group A race at the Adelaide street circuit.

It will be fitting given it will mark the 40th anniversary since the maiden 1985 Australian Grand Prix at Adelaide where Johnson’s Greens-Tuf Mustang raced. Thomas Miles

Warren Luff shook down the famous NASCAR at QR.

sprintcar title double

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THE NEXT CHAPTER OF THE AMBROSE LEGEND

MARCOS AMBROSE and Pirtek are one of the most iconic combinations in Australian motorsport this century and Marcos’ daughter has brought it all back to life via a special new era in Formula Ford.

Two decades on from Marcos Ambrose’s final Supercars season racing the Pirtek SBR Falcon, his Tabitha is racing the same iconic colours in the Stars and Renegades Formula Ford Series.

Driving for Marcos Ambrose Motorsport, she debuted at Winton last weekend, finishing 10th and 11th in the first and final races, while retiring in the other two.

Tabitha is not only following in her father’s footsteps, but is well on the way to forging her own career and Formula Ford is a fitting part of the plan, given it was a massive part of Marcos’ rise to Supercars.

But now it is all about Tabitha as she steers the Pirtek and Ambrose story into a new era.

“To have PIRTEK as the naming rights partner on our new Formula Ford and be announced as a PIRTEK ambassador is an incredible honour at this stage of my career,” said Tabitha.

“It is also humbling to be carrying the number 45 in PIRTEK’s 45th anniversary year.

“Obviously I was not even born when dad won the Supercars championships in the PIRTEK Falcon for SBR, but that era was a memorable one for Ford fans and there is not a day goes by where I don’t see images of that car or have someone want to talk to me about it.

“I have an enormous amount to learn about all aspects of this sport and that will continue as I take each new step. It is a pretty special feeling each time I pull on the PIRTEK Racing suit or team shirt and I know it brings a bit of a smile to dad’s face.”

Marcos Ambrose is touched and proud to see his daughter race with the same famous colours he won the 2003 and 2004 Supercars championships with on the national stage.

“I was constantly reminded that PIRTEK would be enthusiastic supporters of

Tabitha if she chose to pursue a full-time motorsport career, but there were several personal hoops we had to jump through before having a serious discussion,” he said.

“Tabitha is passionate about the sport; shehas been prepared to do the hard work in and out of the car over the last couple of years and is not afraid to get her hands dirty and that’s why we are in the position we are today.

“We are looking forward to the next chapter in Tabitha’s journey this year, but there are no crazy expectations from any of the stakeholders.

“We want to do everything as professionally as we can for ourselves and our partners, learn more every time we head to the track and ensure we have plenty of fun along the way.”

Thomas Miles

SUNNY DAYS AHEAD FOR PHILLIP ISLAND CLASSIC

THE VHRR’s Phillip Island Classic is finally here this weekend, with huge fields set to descend onto the Island with perfect weather a “near guarantee” …it is Victoria ...

Among the highlights is one of the biggest ever grids of Retro Touring Cars, from 5-litre, Group A and Group C, spanning from the 80s, 90s and into the 2000s.

There’s also plenty of magnificent open-wheel action to be had, with the largest collection of historic openwheelers anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere, with some of the most incredible pure-bred race cars you could hope to see and hear on-track.

There’s a great blend of youth and experience on the high performance 5-litre grids, with young up-andcomers like 18-year old Bailey Collins

from Gippsland, who’s so far cut his teeth in karting and Formula Ford over the last three years. He’ll be debuting in his father’s 2011 Kelly Racing Jack Daniels Supercar.

Then there’s 15-year-old Ryan Wyhoon – son of Terry – who’ll pilot an ex-Tim Slade Supercar.

They’ll be sharing the track with the likes of Peter Xibberas, PremiAir

owner and current Aussie drag racing champ, who’ll drive his ex-Bob Jane Group C Commodore, racing in C & A, whilst Supercar driver Thomas Randal from the Tickford Racing team will also be in the field, driving a 1972 Mach 722.

Then there’s the likes of Jonathan Miles driving a Van Diemen RF89 in Formula Ford, who’ll be up against

a bevy of names like Alex Davison and John Blanchard, whilst engineer and designer Malcolm Oastler will be behind the wheel of his Ralt RT1.

The names don’t stop across the categories, with Jonathan Webb in a Ford Sierra (C&A), and his father Steve Webb in an Elfin 600 Repco Brabham in Q&R Sports.

There’s also machines ranging from the incredible Porsche 917-30 to the 1985 Ferrari 156/85, a Lola T332, a 1971 Group N Datsun 510, and the Old Yeller V AKA MacDonald Corvette Special.

Off track there will also be over 1000 display cars across the three days. Visit www.vhrr.com.au for ticketing information, and the packed event programme.

TW Neal

SYDNEY OLYMPIC STADIUM TRANSFORMED FOR ROC

WITH THE Race of Champions (ROC) nearing its Australian debut this weekend, March 7-8, the Sydney Olympic Stadium has undergone an incredible transformation into a multi-directional motor racing circuit.

The 33rd edition of the ROC concept will include a bevy of 20 national and international stars ranging from Formula 1, World Rallying, Supercars, Rallycross, NASCAR, Extreme E and Dakar. Installed is a side-by-side 1km asphalt race track

The inaugural Sydney event will include four-time F1 World Champion, Sebastian

Vettel, Valtteri Bottas, seven-time Supercars champion Jamie Whincup, reigning champion Will Brown, fromer Extreme E world champion Molly Taylor, nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb, 11-time X-Games Gold medalist Travis Pastrana, NASCAR star Kurt Busch, seven-time FIA World Rallycross Champion Johan Kristoffersson, former F1 driver Mick Schumacher, duel ERC champion Hayden Paddon, father and son rally drivers Petter and Oliver Solberg, and two-time Australian Dakar winner Toby Price.

Construction has involved more than 400

semi-trailer movements with over 4500 tonnes of road base and asphalt having been shifted into place.

The circuit consists of five different layers including a foundation of more than 11000 square metres of specially-designed Geofabric. On top of that is more than 3600 ply floor boards and then 100mm (or 4000 tonnes) of gravel road base which was shaped into the track configuration which includes a 43m cross-over bridge.

All this to be removed before South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Penrith Panthers play on Thursday March 27!

The field will compete in a series of six different vehicles, going head-to-head in identical cars, including a FC2 Rallycross, Supercar Lite Rallycross, KTM X-Bow Comp R, Polaris RZR Pro R, Subaru BRZ tS and Toyota GR86 Cup machines. TW Neal

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THE DRIVE THAT MADE ANAGNOSTIADIS’ BREAKTHROUGH POSSIBLE

AUSTRALIA WILL have a driver to cheer for in F1 Academy for the first time, thanks to rapidly rising teenager Aiva Anagnostiadis.

Within a year, Anagnostiadis, 17, has progressed from karting around Europe and driving a race car for the first time to being signed up for the biggest female series on the planet.

The Melbourne girl will race for Hitech Grand Prix in the all-female series that follows the Formula 1 season and starts at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Anagnostiadis is making history as the first Australian to secure a F1 Academy seat, in the championship’s third season.

She hails from Melbourne and has motorsport in her blood with her mother Barbara a former karter and brother James also in the Mercedes karting program, while her father is a mechanic.

Preparations are in full swing, with Anagnostiadis regularly visiting the Hitech team, working in the simulator or going to the gym, while she also recently completed a secret test at Jerez.

Given that her first drive of a race car was as recent as June last year, things have happened very fast for the

teenager, but she has soaked it all up and is ready for the big opportunity.

“It has been a bit surreal but I am so stoked and can’t wait to get the season started,” Anagnostiadis told Auto Action.

“I am really excited and grateful to be so young and have such an opportunity.

“From when I stepped in a car last year, this was the goal, so I feel ready for it and have been doing everything I can because it will be such an intense season – not only on track, but with everything off it.

“I feel comfortable in the car and have been in it quite a lot recently, which has been great. I think we have prepared really well and I am ready for it.”

Last year Anagnostiadis headed to

Europe as part of Race(H)er, Alpine’s Academy program, to go karting, but she took the big risk of leaving it early to pursue her dream of going car racing.

She managed to secure a seat on the Indian F4 grid and started well, being as high as fifth and finishing six of the first eight races in the top 10.

However, after four straight DNFs the pressure was at the maximum ahead of the final race and, with her career on the line, she produced something special.

“That last race I got a phone call saying you need to drive your heart our because this could be your last race,” she said.

“It was mainly because we had not locked in a drive anywhere.

“I was going to either end up back in Australia and working at a go-kart team or where we are now.

“I spun out on lap one but drove it from 14s back from last to sixth and I don’t think I have ever driven a car like that. The aim for that race was to finish on the podium, but what I did was better.

“We were fastest on track and everyone was, like, ‘oh my god.’

“I was not that happy afterwards, but now knowing what has happened since, it was mega.”

Anagnostiadis also stated that if it was not for F1 Academy, which only started in 2023, she may not be racing at all in 2025.

“F1 Academy was really the only option to keep me racing,” she said.

“It is such a great thing for females coming through and it is budgetfriendly compared to anything else.

“F1 Academy was the only way we could continue because we could not race anything else budget-wise.

“It is the only reason I am still racing to be honest and, hopefully, it will bring in some sponsors and get my name out there.

“Everyone wants to be up front but, goals wise, if we are top rookie and in that top 10 I would be really happy in my first year.

“We can get to the top five if we can get it all together.

“But it will be very hard because there are girls in the field that have three to five years more experience than me.

“It will take a lot of time and learning, but I am ready for the challenge.”

Anagnostiadis will be at the Australian Grand Prix as an ambassador before she takes on F1 Academy in Shanghai.

Thomas Miles

UNDISPUTED KING OF THE DUNES

AUSSIE W2RC SUPERSTAR AND RECENT DAKAR WINNER DANIEL SANDERS HAS CONTINUED TO SET THE FIM WORLD RALLY-RAID CHAMPIONSHIP ALIGHT WITH ANOTHER GIANT EFFORT IN ABU DHABI. TIMOTHY W NEAL REPORTS…

IT’S HARD to deny the fact that Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders is now the undisputed King of the Dunes after a resounding victory at Round 2 of the World Rally-Raid Championship last week.

Sanders entered the six day Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge on the back of making history at January’s Dakar Rally, where he became just the second Australian to take out the famous race in Saudi Arabia.

With such a short turnaround from a gruelling 14 days in the Arab Kingdoms Empty Quarter, his trip to the UAE saw him match British riders Sam Sunderland 2022 effort in taking out the consecutive Middle Eastern rounds.

It was also the third straight victory in the worlds most gruelling motorsport series for Sanders, with the Victorian’s streak dating back to the Rallye du Maroc in the backwash of 2024.

After heading into the UAE with a handy points scoop at Dakar, he now leads the five round championship by 17 points over Honda’s Tosha Schareina, with the Spaniard and himself swapping the lead several times during the rally.

In the end, Schareina’s time penalties in Stage 2 ultimately

damaged his chances, as Sanders came from over six minutes in arrears and eighth position to lead the rally by over two minutes with a barnstorming ride.

“This one is a really great victory to tick off as, last time I was here, I lost out on the win on the final day which was tough,” Sanders said.

“I felt great all week and it’s amazing to have won three races in a row now. I’m really enjoying riding, my KTM is running perfectly, and I can’t thank everyone in the team enough for their hard work to get us to this point.”

After the prologue and six stages, covering a distance of 1,917 km, he would overcome Honda American

Ricky Brabec by 5m04s, whilst his closest title rival was 6m04s back.

“With the times so close after yesterday, I tried to push to win the stage and I came away with third place overall. It was not an easy rally as it was outside of my comfort zone in the dunes,” Schareina said on his loss.

Starting out, Sanders finished in fifth place in the opening Prologue, and after the first stage, he entered the third day (Stage 2) sitting down in eighth.

A huge stage day, coupled with the Spaniard’s troubles saw Sanders win the Mezeer’ah loop outing by just shy of four minutes, turning a 6min37sec deficit into a 2min25s lead.

Stage 3 then ignited a fierce battle in the timing stakes, with the Honda rider starting out in seventh, able to follow the tracks in the dunes, to gain a 1min25 lead into Stage 4.

The penultimate stage, Stage 4, was the defining one as the field returned to Mezeer’ah from the Marathon Camp in the Al Qua’a Region with Sanders having dominated by over three minutes.

Schareina’s relative W2RC inexperience in the Dunes saw him drop over 10 minutes, giving Sanders a 7m23sec advantage into the final day.

Next up for the gruelling Rally-Raid world tour is the series’ first visit to South Africa for the South Africa Safari Rally on April 2-7.

For the Dakar history buffs, it will bring back memories of the 1992 Paris–Cape Town Rally (one of the few occasions when Dakar in Senegal was not the finishing post). It’s also the first time that the W2RC has visited Africa twice in a season.

W2RC ROUND 2 RESULTS

1. Daniel Sanders (AUS), KTM, 63 points

2. Tosha Schareina (ESP), Honda, 46 pts

3. Ricky Brabec (USA), Honda, 37 pts

4. Adrien Van Beveren (FRA), Honda, 35 pts

5. Luciano Benavides (ARG), KTM, 33 pts

Back in the never-ending dunes, Sanders (above) has extended his championship lead. Images: RED BULL CONTENT POOL

AUSSIE PAIR DON’T NEED WINGS, THANKS, AS MERCEDES RETURNS TO SARTHE …

THE NEWS THAT STEPHEN AND BRENTON GROVE WILL DRIVE ONE OF THREE FACTORYPREPARED MERCEDES-AMG LMGT3s IN THE LE MANS 24 HOUR RACE, IN JUNE, IS TERRIFIC

STEPHEN AND Brenton are the first Aussies to drive for Mercedes at Le Mans since an Aussie called Mark Webber – who went on to ‘do ok’ in Formula 1 – who was part of the 1999 factory Mercedes line-up for the classic race.

But back then, it didn’t have the best of endings …

Just over a quarter of a century ago in a normally quiet little slice of rural France a whole heap of Germans were palm-slapping their foreheads and “Gott im Himmel-ing” themselves to a standstill in absolute disbelief.

Now the Germans hate defeat, especially in France, but you could also argue that they’re getting good at it – at least in historical terms, if you roll back through the pages of history.

But to use the old Fawlty Towers line – “Don’t mention the war” – because this was 1999 and the three-pointed star of Mercedes-Benz was back at Le Mans and ready to do the business.

And then, well, and then … Somewhere along the way, experimenting with rear suspension drop at high speed for better top speed, the Mercedes ground offensive had seen their racing weapons turn into the Luftwaffe. And, well, this was not a good thing.

So now, 26 years later Mercedes is gearing up to fly, umm, the flag but nothing else in the greatest endurance

with Wayne Webster OPINION

race in the world – the Le Mans 24 Hour epic and blow away the demons that still haunt many Stuttgart insiders. But 2025 is just a toe-inthe-water exercise. A dry run if you will before the company gets serious again and goes all-in to try and win the world’s greatest sports car endurance race.

(If you ignore the Daytona

24 Hour that is.)

Mercedes has introduced an all-new GT3 car for 2025, a car developed in-house rather than with its favoured supplier HWA motorsport. The race team will be overseen by Iron Lynx, which has severed its ties as the factory-backed Lamborghini works team.

Hmm, Mercedes or Lamborghini?

The fact that Merc has moved the WEC program, at least in engineering terms, within the closed doors of the factory also indicates that its ambitions are probably just a little more ambitious than the production-based GT3 category in the big scheme of things.

Mercedes doesn’t do things by halves, and even when it does it’s usually twice what others do, if you know what I mean.

There are whispers, rumours and innuendo that Mercedes has its eyes on becoming an outright WEC player in 2026, joining the likes of arch-rivals

Porsche and BMW not to mention Cadillac, Ferrari and others.

Word is that some of the backroom boys at the Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (catchy, hey?) factory in Brixworth, England, have been beavering away on an engine suitable for a WEC Hypercar contender.

Why Brixworth? Well, this is where Mercedes produces the coveted powerplants for its factory F1 team and numerous customers such as McLaren and Williams. It is also believed that Mercedes has held talks with

chassis manufacturing behemoth Multimatic about producing the tubs for a WEC Hypercar contender.

A Mercedes return to Le Mans, in particular, is obviously going to drag up some pretty ‘interesting’ memories. The last time the factory was there, in 1999, its cars flew. I mean flew –literally.

A young and upcoming star called Mark Webber found his car launching skywards at over 300km/h during the Thursday practice session.

“It happened so fast it was just like an aeroplane taking off,” recalled Webber in his autobiography, ‘Aussie Grit.’ I could see the sky and then the ground and then the sky again.

“Bloody hell, it’s Thursday night at Le Mans – maybe this is it …” he wrote. Webber obviously survived but the team remained sceptical, saying that it “couldn’t possibly happen.”

Mercedes did its best Sergeant Schultz (okay young ‘uns, Google it) and said “we know nuthink!”

But it not only happened, it happened again. During the Saturday morning warm-up, Webber’s car again grabbed some frequent flier points, this time on the Mulsanne Straight and comprehensively destroyed itself.

Not that it mattered because, when Webber clambered from the wreckage, he told himself “I’m never getting into that car again ...”

Even then, the team reckoned that it was Webber who was at fault. Such was the denial within the team that it couldn’t admit that flying automobiles may show a problem within the design – or at least the set-up of the cars.

And then came the famous Peter Dumbrek accident in the remaining

Merc CLR – despite little front winglets being added as a late ‘fix’. Same as Webber … but captured live on TV for all the world to see.

How he survived, after flying off the track and landing in the forest almost makes one believe in God because he walked away intact if not emotionally scarred.

At this stage the Mercedes works team was looking more like an early incarnation of Space X rather than a motor racing team.

Certainly the launches were both successful and spectacular but the landings, umm, probably left a lot to be desired. Particularly for the drivers, who had no idea they had

signed on to become astronauts. There are long, lengthy and highly detailed dissertations about the aerodynamic failings that befell the gorgeous looking Mercedes CLR-LM racer, but the bottom line is that it was a piece of, as the French would say, ‘merde.’

Aerodynamics is the magic sauce that keeps a racing car glued to the ground. Of course, aerodynamics is what makes aeroplanes fly. Mercedes seemingly, in this case, got the two confused.

Now you’d think that the Germans, after already enduring a couple of major losses (don’t mention the war!) would go away, learn from their mistakes and come back and redeem themselves. Instead, in true Germanic warrior spirit, Mercedes ran away and have had 26 years of Octoberfesting to try and forget. Many have tried the old ‘drink to forget’ adage, and in this case it’s obviously worked.

But many things have changed since those, err, high flying days of 1999 and Mercedes obviously still has a Le Mans itch it needs to scratch.

In 2025 the three-pointed star brigade will be back, firstly as a toein-the-water exercise, but back at Le Mans nevertheless.

Hopefully they don’t have Red Bull backing, cause the last thing they need is wings! …

The Groves have run their own Mercedes GT3 here and overseas – here (and above) at Bathurst.

Left: Mark Webber’s darkest day – taking his second flight in two days as his Mercedes Benz CLR-GT lifted off on the Mulsanne Straight.

HUGHES STRONG ON INDY NXT DEBUT

AUSSIE INDY hopeful Lochie Hughes (right) couldn’t have asked for much more in his Indy NXT debut at St Petersburg, as the Andretti Global racer scored a well-earned debut podium behind race winner Dennis Hauger.

Hughes’ promotion to the final rung on the Road to Indy ladder came after taking out the USF Pro2000 series in 2024, with the hefty USD scholarship money allowing him to step up with the famous Andretti garage.

It didn’t take long for the Gold Coast-born 22-year old to find his feet in the Mazda-powered Dallara IL-15 machinery, starting on the front row next to his team-mate and former Red Bull F1 junior driver Dennis Hauger who set a course record in qualifying.

At 44 laps, it was also the longest race that Hughes has experienced in his junior career and, although he had several cracks at Hauger over two restarts, the Norwegian proved to pacy off the starting line and in the restarts.

Hughes had previously taken two wins at the street track in the USF series, but explained that this

was a different kettle of fish:

“It’s just completely different,” Hughes said.

“It’s just so much faster, heavier, and with different tyre. Racing for a team like Andretti … there’s a little bit of added pressure there.

“Pretty reasonably happy with this weekend. I think it’s been a while since the scholarship car has

had a podium on debut. It’s the longest race I’ve ever done in my life, coming from the USF Series.”

Fellow Aussie Tommy Smith also had his first outing in the Indy NXT series, with the former FIA F3 racer not getting any luck at the green flag.

Competing for HMD Motorsports, the Victorian

qualified in 16th, but was then unluckily turned into the righthand barrier at the race start after taking contact. He eventually finished two laps down, in P15. It’s a bit of a wait for the next round, with the series not resuming until May 2 at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. TW Neal

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR AGIUS

MOTO2 AUSSIE Senna Agius (right) started the season off with a sensational come-from-behind podium at the Thai Grand Prix, with the New South Welshman making his second career visit to the Moto2 dais.

After showing good signs with the Germany-based Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP team in ’24, Agius hit back at the season opener after taking a long lap penalty after qualifying in fourth.

The Aussie’s promotion into the series saw him skip the Moto3 grid after dominating the European Moto2 championship in ’23, with his formative season resulting in a sole podium at his home GP. But the #81 rider said that his Thai podium takes the cake as

he leaves Buriram third in the championship.

“Honestly, I thought Phillip Island was the highlight of my career – this smashes that,” a delighted Agius said.

After moving into third off the

starting line, his attempt on lap 11 to move into second saw him push the limits a bit too enthusiastically.

“Cele started to struggle. I was going to make a pass for P2 and I was a bit optimistic. I have to say sorry to them because that pass

was on the limit.”

After taking the long lap penalty, the large gap to fifth saw him stay in fourth, but a staggering fightback with seven laps remaining saw him charge back into podium contention, with a Turn 12 move in the closing laps securing P3.

“I did the penalty and then I said ‘Okay, don’t make any mistake’ because by that time I had no tyre left.

“I was catching Moreira one-byone, and I should have passed him more aggressively but I was just a bit tense on the bike – but that will come. I can’t believe I got it done.” Agius will next hit the track on March 16 at the Argentine Grand Prix.

TW Neal

THEY SAID WHAT?

SET THE alarm Monday morning to see how Shane van Gisbergen would go when NASCAR made its first visit to a road course this year.

The two first races – ovals, including the iconic Daytona 500 – had reaped promise, if not a result … let’s face it, there’s a certain sadistic acceptance in NASCAR that you’re likely, often as an innocent victim, to get caught up in someone else’s crash –and some of them are pretty big …

Road circuits, however, have seemed like something of a homecoming for ‘our man’ in NASCAR and, unsurprisingly, he was the bookies’ favourite for this one.

I’m not sure the wide-open expanses of COTA are the best advertisement for NASCAR.

You’re up against Formula 1 and MotoGP as a spectacle to start with – and that means, with the best will in the world, there’s not the sell-out crowd look. And compared with the sheer performance of the bikes and F1 projectiles, the cars can look a shade clumsy.

Street-races, for sure, are something else … the claustrophobia of nearby concrete makes all the difference!

But hey, it’s a real race-track, SVG was the favourite and –with some of the key NASCAR long-timers really starting to ‘get’ what it takes to run on

with Chris Lambden CL ON CALL

road courses – looking like a contest.

In the end, it wasn’t SVG’s day. He and the team had fallen a bit short set-up-wise, and the #88 struggled for traction out of corners virtually throughout.

He delayed his final stop until 3-4 laps after the other leading contenders, hoping the fresher rubber would help, but a brief excursion – dropping him to 10th – ended up being a P6 finish.

Interestingly, the race was won by Christopher Bell – his third road course win. I saw Bell race at Western Springs Speedway in Auckland five years ago (he’s been going there since he was a teenager).

He was spectacular.

His US co-star that evening was Kyle Larson … yes that’s right, the 2021 NASCAR champion.

While Larson has always continued to race on the dirt, in Midgets and Sprintcars, Bell’s NASCAR team boss Joe Gibbs banned it from the start of 2023 – concerned for the health and safety of his investment!

However, Bell has now talked him round, and returned to Midget racing this year,

including the famous Chili Bowl (where he’s a threetime winner), where he told reporters that “racing on the dirt can help to improve my Sunday (NASCAR) results and become a better racer …”

The past two weeks suggest that couldn’t be truer – with the 30-year-old winning last week on Atlanta’s high-speed 2.5km oval, then at COTA this week. And of course, it’s worth noting that SVG spent a fair bit of his time back home in December and January hanging out a Sprintcar around the ovals of his homeland.

Based on the simplest correlation, there’s obviously something to it – albeit fairly different disciplines, searching for grip on a dirt oval isn’t the worst thing you can do to stay sharp for the bigtime in NASCAR! (For that matter, consider Cam Waters’ explosive start to the Supercars season – after a Summer of Sprintcar racing!)

There’s just something ‘upcountry’ and charming about both NASCAR and Speedway, so it was with a jolt, quite early in the COTA broadcast, that I was hit by one of the

commentators exclaiming “Track Limits penalty …”

What! Nooooo … That’s what the hyper-regulated world of F1,2,3 and, here in Oz, Supercars is made of. Not NASCAR. Please – surely not! But yes. And then, a short time later, “Crossing the Compliance Line (at the pit entry) – penalty.” Used to be, even in F1, called a white line … COTA does, of course, have a built-in MotoGP ‘long-lap’ penalty, that ribbon of road around the exterior of a corner,

where recalcitrant riders are diverted to pay for their sins – but at least it’s less timepenalising than a full pit lane ride/drive-through.

So, NASCAR decided to go with that – with one interesting addition. Naughty boys were meant to grind to a stop, momentarily, while trickling around the perimeter. One did, the next didn’t bother.

“Oh well,” exhaled the commentator drily … Please NASCAR, don’t go down this path. Hyperregulation was never meant for NASCAR. Technical regs, sure, but not this. Whatever it takes, no ‘track limits’. I hate it, even in F1 – though there are, fortunately, tracks like Austria’s Red Bull Ring where it’s been overcome with a narrow gravel strip on the outside of affected corners. Whatever it takes, NASCAR. Get rid of the techno-jargon and stick with “yee-haaaw.”

Please …

Christopher Bell has been a successful regular at NZ’s Western Springs Speedway for well over a decade (above). And now, having returned to dirt racing after two years away, has nailed two NASCAR wins in a row. Coincidence? Image: GETTY MAGES

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Email: editor@autoaction.com.au

Postal: Suite 4/156 Drummond Street. Oakleigh Victoria 3166

THE SHOES ARE ON THE OTHER FEET

I wouldn’t normally be bothered writing a letter to a magazine, and I don’t do social media comments, but I have to say that I had a huge laugh watching the two young blokes in the Redbull Chevs having a whinge at what went on during that Saturday night race at the first Supercars round in Sydney.

What a joke. It’s always the same with them – they are the first ones to rub it in when they get the chance and this time it was on them. Rather than play the game when Cam Waters tried to do the right thing and redress the situation and the game they tried to play, backfired on them.

Waters was great in the way he forced Feeney to go past him while he managed to keep the bleating Will Brown behind him.

The other thing that was impressive was getting the side draft, that was interesting to see.

The right bloke won a great race, best one I have seen for a while.

Good to see the Blue Oval back on top early in the season!

Dillon

Frigo Melton South, Vic

THREE CHEERS FOR THE PONY EXPRESS WITH CLARITY CALL

What a start to the V8 Supercar season.

Lap 12 Friday night it all went flat for Broc Feeney. It was then catch-me-ifyou-can from the front for Cam Waters.

Saturday was such a great spectacle for all.

Bump, shunt and block all the way to the end was taken in good spirit.

Even adding water on Sunday didn’t stop the Monster Energy Mustang. It was a top weekend for all V8 supercar enthusiasts.

But a question. Saturday night’s near miss between Cam and Will Brown really interests me.

With that race only won by such a small margin, I think this question is valid.

Cam is first into his pit garage with a slight lead over Broc. Cam is released from his pit garage before Broc. Will cuts Cam off, impeding him for more than three seconds.

Broc drove off ahead of Cam, who lost the lead. If Will and Cam hit who is in the wrong?

Is it an unsafe release on

Cam?

Is it reckless entry to the pit garage for Will?

Double stacking is meant to penalise the team doing it, not the team next to them.

I think we need some clarity in case teams feel they can take an advantage from this.

Nomadic Phil ‘On the road again’

THANKS FOR THE GREAT COMMENTRY ON SUPERCARS

Can someone tell me why Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton constantly get bagged for their Supercars commentary.

I don’t watch all that many Supercars events, but I watched Bathurst last year and really enjoyed it. So with no real football to watch yet, I decided to watch the Sydney races on

Saturday night, and it was a great race.

The race itself was unreal, one of the best I have ever watched. And it was made better by Mark and Neil explaining what was going on, their excitement was pretty obvious, and they seemed to be enjoying it like I was. The ex-racer Mark Larkham is very knowledgeable and his chats about the technical stuff while the race is on is informative, so between them all it’s a pretty enjoyable watch and I learnt a fair bit as well. Keep up the good work boys and girls and I think I might watch a few more races… Shame the footy season will be back on by then.

Chris Beatty Frankston, Victoria

Cam Waters’ big win at the opening round of the Repco Australian Supercars Championship has gone down well with AA readers ... Image: PETER NORTON

HAMILTON’S NEW LIFE

THE OLDER I get the more in awe I am of sports people who keep their drive forever. When you are doing something that takes a lot out of you, something that forces you to put the rest of your life in the background and you manage to keep the inner fire burning, you deserve all the respect and admiration in the world, in my book.

That’s why I have a tremendous amount of respect for Fernando Alonso, for example. Two months from now, it will be 12 years since he won his last Grand Prix; from 2015 to 2018, while at McLaren, he never even made it to the podium and, a very promising start of the 2023 season apart, things haven’t also gone the way he was hoping for at Aston Martin.

Nevertheless, the Spaniard keeps pushing to the limit in qualifying, as if he was in his first season, and remains

with Luis Vasconcelos F1 INSIDER

one of the smartest and fiercest drivers to go up against. How he does it? I don’t know, but he keeps on finding motivation from within and demolishing team-mate after team-mate.

Now, I admit I was starting to have my doubts about Lewis Hamilton’s motivation midway through 2023, when it became clear Mercedes still had no clue about what made this generation of cars work – and there were times where he didn’t seem too bothered if he had qualified 7th or 12th.

He also knew Toto Wolff was preparing Andrea Kimi Antonelli to be Mercedes’ future number one and knew it was himself who

would eventually get pushed out, as Russell was doing well and had another 12 or 15 years of Formula 1 ahead of him.

It was the combination of Mercedes’ lack of speed, the feeling he was slowly being pushed aside to make way for the young Italian phenomenon and the inevitable lure of Ferrari that gave him the inspiration to start talking more seriously with his old pal Frédéric Vasseur.

And when president John Elkann entered the discussion, Hamilton’s mind was made up quite quickly.

To see the most successful Grand Prix driver of all time starting his 19th Formula

1 season living in his motorhome, parked by the side of the Fiorano circuit for a few weeks, just shows the level of excitement Hamilton is experiencing since he joined Ferrari.

Sure, Hamilton’s motorhome is certainly more comfortable and luxurious than most houses!

But it’s still a motorhome and the man could be spending his evenings in the best hotel in the region, getting all sort of perks associated with that.

Every time Hamilton now appears in public there’s a broad smile on his face; he speaks with real passion about the journey he has just started and has clearly gained a new lease of life.

Of course, his happiness will always be directly linked to the results he’ll achieve on track, but there’s zero doubt in my mind that Hamilton’s motivation is the highest we’ve seen in many years.

In just two months he has endeared himself to the tifosi, is actively learning Italian and embracing the culture of the country that looks to him as the man who will take Ferrari back to the top.

In less than 10 days, in Melbourne, Lewis Hamilton will start to find out if 2025 is the year he gets that eighth title he fully deserved in 2021 or if McLaren and maybe Red Bull are still too far in front of the Scuderia.

But I’m convinced that, regardless of the real competitiveness of the SF-25, we’re going to see a rejuvenated Hamilton fighting for every thousandth of a second in qualifying and every centimetre of track position during the race.

That, in itself, will be worth watching, like a show within the real spectacle we can only hope the season will offer us.

The dude is serious ... AA’s on-the-spot F1 correspondent has not seen such a focussed Lewis Hamilton for years ... Image: SCUDERIA FERRARI

TWO MANDATORY STOPS FOR MONACO GP

THE FIA has left it late to make some important changes in the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations, with four major decisions being made at its meeting last week, including one that creates new pitstop rules specifically for the Monaco Grand Prix.

The World Council for Motorsports also made changes regarding the flexibility of cars’ wings, the way race and sprint starts should be dealt with should the procedure be aborted, and removed the maximum number of gearboxes requirement completely.

The decision regarding the Monaco Grand Prix seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to the events of last year, when a first lap red flag allowed all 20 drivers to change tyres and go all the way to the end on a different compound. So, for 2025 every driver will have to make at least two pit stops while still having to use at least two different

tyre compounds during the 78 laps of the race.

That, however, opens the door for anyone seriously out of position to perform two pit stops under the same Safety Car period, voiding the intention of the regulations, as several team strategists pointed out during the

pre-season test in Bahrain …

Of more significance for the teams was the decision to make the flexibility tests that are performed on the wings more stringent.

The changes imposed for rear wing flexing tests apply immediately and don’t seem to

have bother any team, given it’s a minor change. But from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards a much tougher front wing flexibility test will be implemented and that will, effectively, force all 10 teams to design, test and manufacturer a completely new range of front wings for the start of June, at a relatively high cost – something that has not gone down well, especially with the smaller teams.

Following the chaos created at the start of the Brazilian Grand Prix, when the procedure was aborted extremely late due to Lance Stroll being beached on the exit of Turn 4, new, clearer procedure has been introduced to prevent a repetition.

Finally (and given that no driver has exceeded it in the last few years, the maximum number of gearbox allowed per season rule was removed, as it was considered superfluous.

HORNER AND VERSTAPPEN REACT TO F1 75 JEERS

CHRISTIAN HORNER AND the Verstappen family have reacted to the negative reception they had during the F1 75 event in London with the driver’s father, Jos, stating that “if they don’t change the location of the event in the future, then I don’t think Max will attend another one in England!”

While the other nine Team Principals and 19 drivers were applauded by the fans who bought extremely expensive tickets to attend the event, as soon as Horner entered the arena a large portion of the crowd started booing the Englishman who was clearly taken aback by their reaction. The booing was still going on when Verstappen stepped onto the stage, leading the Dutch driver to believe he was also being abused by the British crowd. Others, like Toto Wolff, insisted that,

“the booing was directed at only one person, which was quite shocking because he was on his home turf and the crowd turned on him!”

Horner has never been popular with British fans, his public schoolboy manners upsetting quite a lot of people as far back as when Vettel was beating Webber, Hamilton and Button. Horner’s statements regarding Hamilton, Norris and Russell in the last couple of years have turned the British fans even more against him, while the harassment allegations that have been brought against him have made matters worse for the Red Bull man.

Max Verstappen himself refused to be drawn into making any comments about the incident, claiming, already in Bahrain, that “I didn’t hear any booing” and then laughing that “the

event was fantastic!”

His comments on last year’s feud with George Russell also sounded sarcastic, the Dutch driver saying, “I’m not going to bother about that on a Wednesday – I’m not going to waste any energy on it,” while the Mercedes driver himself vowed to put the tension

between them behind, saying that “I have no intention of starting the season with a feud; this is a new championship and we all start from zero” – all of which makes it unclear if there has been any attempt by either to clear the air before the start of the season.

The cars queue up to get out on the grid for the 2024 Monaco GP – they were back in pit lane after a lap ... Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES

Max ... booed, but not quite as much as his boss ...

VOWLES EXPLAINS COLAPINTO’S LOAN TO ALPINE

FRANCO COLAPINTO IS in a unique situation regarding his contract situation, as he has deals with two Formula 1 teams, after Williams and Alpine were able to come to an agreement that gives the young Argentinian driver a better chance of returning to Grand Prix racing as soon as possible. Colapinto replaced the accident prone Logan Sargeant after the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix and immediately impressed James Vowles and the entire Williams team with his speed and commitment. However, he knew there was no room for him to keep on racing with the British team this year as Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon had already signed long-term deals with the squad

His speed even made Red Bull have a good look at buying his contract out to place him alongside Max Verstappen in its main team, before a succession of spectacular and expensive crashes dented their interest.

At Alpine, though, Flavio Briatore

and Oliver Oakes still believed Colapinto would be a better choice than the already contracted Jack Doohan and eventually found a way to get him to join their team, while keeping contractual ties with Williams.

At the launch of this year’s Williams, Team Principal James Vowles summarised Colapinto’s situation saying that “he is with Alpine and he is an Alpine driver for a number of years. After that point, I hope he comes back to Williams.”

The Argentinian’s accidents towards the end of the season damaged his reputation in the paddock but Vowles insists that “I believe in Franco – I believe, even at the detriment and cost to Williams, that a racing driver that is capable of being in Formula 1 should be racing in Formula 1.

“But we have two incredible drivers that will be with us for at least a couple of years, and maybe up to four years depending on where we get to. So, there is no room in the inn, as

we’d say in English.”

That’s why Vowles accepted the proposal made by Alpine, explaining that “they presented the best opportunity for Franco to be a racing driver in 2026 and maybe 2025 and that’s important to me. It gives him a great opportunity to still come back to the sport where I

believe he deserves to race.”

Sources close to the young driver revealed the ‘loan’ deal is valid for three years and can be renewed for another two, meaning Williams will have first call over Colapinto’s services for 2028 and 2030, with Alpine being his priority from this season until the end of 2027.

SAINZ JOINS RUSSELL AS GPDA DIRECTOR

CARLOS SAINZ has been elected director of the Formula 1 drivers’ association, replacing the long-retired Sebastian Vettel in the role.

Now that it’s clear Vettel’s days as a Grand Prix driver are finished – after his initial contacts with Red Bull and Audi led to nothing – the German has stepped down from his directorship in the GPDA and Sainz was elected by a large majority of his peers.

The new Williams driver has emerged as the logical candidate thanks to his normally well-balanced and well thought-out views on all controversial issues. The Spaniard is always able to present a logical and elaborated analysis of any issue regarding driver safety and behavior and that’s why he was the logical choice when his peers had to vote.

Recently, on the swearing penalties announced by the FIA, the Spanish driver explained that, from his point of view, “in controlled environments,

like press conferences, drivers should be mature enough to know when to control swearing,” adding that “I don’t think we should be

swearing in those situations – but regarding what we say on the radio, I don’t agree with what is happening. I think you cannot be too tough on this kind of thing, because you cannot understand the way we feel inside the car when we open that radio.

“For me that’s a keeper in Formula 1 and that shouldn’t be something we should get rid of.”

GPDA Director George Russell has hailed the election of Sainz as his new partner after two seasons in which the Mercedes driver had been left on his own, saying that “I’m happy that the questions can be shared out a little bit more evenly between me and another driver and to have Carlos as one of the senior voices is a great addition.”

Vowles and Colapinto – long-term planning ...

Sainz – new team, new car, new job ...

HORNER TAKES THE PRESSURE OFF LAWSON

CHRISTIAN HORNER has given a very clear vote of confidence to new recruit Liam Lawson, while at the same time making it clear that the New Zealander’s main job is to provide support for team leader Max Verstappen in the Dutchman’s attempt to win his fifth consecutive World Championship.

Horner made it clear that “Liam’s job is quite clear. He’s there to try and provide as much support as he possibly can. There’s not an expectation for him to go out and beat a four-time World Champion.”

Almost as aside, the British manager added that “if he beats Max, that’s fantastic, and there’s no reason to say that he can’t,” before conceding his strategy: “It’s a matter of trying to take the pressure off Liam as best we can. He has been part of our team for a couple of years as test and reserve driver, so he knows how we operate.”

The veteran Team Principal then

explained the reasons that led to the decision to promote Lawson to Red Bull Racing, saying that “one of the things that really impressed us about him is his mental strength and resilience. Being Max’s teammate is probably the toughest seat

in Formula 1. We’ll do our best to protect him and develop him.

“He only has 11 Grands Prix under his belt. It’s a big ask – but I think he’s got all the capability and talent and mental strength to be able to deal with that.”

Horner also defended the promotion of Richard Wood to the role of Lawson’s race engineer while, at the same time, being complimentary towards Hugh Bird, who worked with Pérez for the last two years without much success.

The Englishmen stated that “it was a natural change. Hugh has recently added to his family and his skill-set can really be well utilised within the factory. So, it was a win-win situation. He gets to get a few more nights at home, but at the same time plays a key role in our vehicle dynamics department, bringing all that trackside knowledge and experience into that department.”

“Hugh is an incredibly bright engineer and he’ll be an asset to that. And at the same time, it’s part of the team’s natural evolution, where it gives Woody the chance to step up into that role of engineering Liam. So, it was just a natural juncture for that to happen.”

SZAFNAUER DEMOLISHES ALPINE LEADERSHIP

OTMAR SZAFNAUER (right) hasn’t been in an active role in Formula 1 since he was sacked by Alpine mid-2023 but the Romanian-born American remains a regular presence in the paddock.

Szafnauer has invested in a traveling app, EventR, and spends quite a bit of time negotiating with the 10 Formula 1 teams, Formula 1, the FIA and the bigger TV broadcasters involved in the sport to try and persuade them to use it.

At the same time, and after Michael Andretti’s bid to get his team to join Formula 1 hit trouble, Szafnauer was hired as a consultant for the project, trying to smooth things between the former driver and the teams, as well as the commercial rights’ holder.

In the end it was former Marussia Team Principal Graeme Lowdon that got the job of leading Cadillac’s entry

into Formula 1, with Szafnauer now admitting that “I will only come back with a team in the right conditions, with the right budget, the right partnership and total autonomy to run it as I believe it should be done. Unless that happens, I’m not interested in being a Team Principal anymore because there’s no chance of success …”

The former Force India man has (during the FFS podcast) also looked back at his brief time with Alpine and the least one can say is that Szafnauer was not kind to group CEO Luca di Meo and the previous leader of the French squad’s Formula 1 program, Laurent Rossi. Asked to look back at his 18 months with Alpine, Szafnauer said that “the ownership had no idea about motor racing and their expectations were not in line with reality. They wanted

success overnight – they wanted me to fire everybody, like in a football team; they wanted me to change 20 per cent of the employees and I said ‘no, that’s not how you do it.’ I cannot fire people that are doing a good job, just to change the culture, so I knew that I just had to go, I couldn’t stay any longer there.”

Szafnauer also alluded to how things had changed with the arrival of Flavio Briatore on the scene, calling the Italian “an experienced operator that is very close to the Formula 1 leadership and who had a direct relationship with CEO Luca di Meo” and admitted that “hiring Oliver Oaks to run the team has worked well, because he comes in with fresh blood and new ideas, so the engineering team in Enstone, that has always been outstanding, can now flourish without interference from people with

no knowledge or understanding of motor racing as Flavio is insulating the team from external pressures.”

Liam Lawson’s F1 dream has become a reality – how he handles the Red Bull role is just one of the fascinations of 2025 ...

HERE, SIGN THIS! NDA DRAMA AT THE FIA

THERE’S A risk that decisions taken during the last FIA World Council for Motor Sport meeting could end up being declared null and void after it emerged that a few key elected members of that board were denied participation in the meeting by Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the president of the Federation.

According to a report from the BBC “Robert Reid, the FIA’s deputy president for sport, and David Richards, the UK’s representative, were among those denied access after refusing to sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA).”

While it’s normal practice for people to have to sign that sort of agreement when they are part of any big organisation, the same sources said the document that was sent around to the members of the WCMS contained clauses that some considered illegal and unnaceptable, with a number of FIA members

Long-time and esteemed motorsport identity David Richards is one of the World Council figures ‘banned’ by MBS ...

declining to sign the new NDAs.

There’s been legal correspondence between the legal representatives of Reid, Richards and others, with the FIA, but if the matter is not resolved internally, there’s serious doubt that the decisions made by the World Council – including regarding rules for the forthcoming F1 season – will be legitimate.

In a statement issued to the BBC, a spokesperson for the FIA said that “as is routine in all organisations, the FIA implements procedures including non-disclosure agreements to ensure confidential relationships between all parties, to safeguard personal information, and to protect our regulatory interests.

“Unauthorised disclosure of

confidential information undermines our ability to fully fulfil our mission and adversely impacts our capabilities to generate revenues to support our member clubs in our shared objective of growing motorsport participation, increasing accessibility, and cultivating innovation.”

In conclusion, the FIA insisted that “the steps we have taken to preserve confidentiality have been overwhelmingly supported by a super majority of WMSC members.”

Asked for comment, Reid, Richards and the organisations they represent preferred to keep silent, but it’s clear there’s a lot going on behind closed doors – and with the election for president of the FIA coming at the end of the year, it looks more and more likely Ben Sulayem will face organised opposition to his bid to remain in power.

MASSA’S LAWSUIT GETS LATE OCTOBER COURT DATE

FELIPE MASSA’S lawsuit against the FIA, the FOM and Bernie Ecclestone, regarding the way the sport handled the events of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, has now received a court date with procedures set for London’s High Court in the last four days of October.

As has been well documented, the Renault team instructed Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash out in a part of the street track where the recovery of his car would require the Safety Car to enter the track to neutralise the race, immediately after team mate Fernando Alonso pitted very early in the race.

Alonso, who had qualified 15th due to a technical issue, found himself in the lead after that first round of pit stops, going on to win the race.

Almost one year later, after being sacked by Renault, Piquet Jr. confessed to the FIA and that led to

Team Principal Flavio Briatore and Chief Race Engineer Pat Symmons being banned from the sport for a lengthy period.

A much more recent interview from Bernie Ecclestone saw the former Formula 1 mastermind admit he knew about the deliberate crash by the end of that year, the

Remember this? Nearly 17 years later, the ripples are still there – though the banned participants are back in the game ...

impresario explaining that then FIA president Max Mosley was also aware of the situation. Only now has Massa and his legal team decided they should take the matter to court, claiming the results of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix should have been annulled – and that would then hand the Brazilian the title.

Massa’s defense argues that the Brazilian was the victim of a conspiracy by the FIA and FOM, not in relation to Piquet’s accident, but in the subsequent stages, with the bodies deliberately failing to take action even after becoming aware of the case.

And even though he now admits there is no way the results of that race can be reversed, Massa is seeking compensation for his losses, not only in terms of the prize money he would have received from Ferrari and its sponsors for winning the World Championship, but also from future earnings and endorsements that would have been enhanced by winning the title.

What remains to be seen is whether the three defendants present separate legal teams or if they pool together to present a united front against the accusations.

CAN McLAREN FINISH THE JOB?

WHAT ARE WE EXPECTING FROM ALBERT PARK AND THE F1 SEASON TO COME?

AS FORMULA 1 races into the final season of its current set of regulations, there’s every indication that it could be as close as the second half of 2024 was.

It’s the scenario that makes for healthy coffee-break chat in any work environment – and AA is no different. It’s a bit like pre-season Footy tipping …

Who’s gonna win? Who’s not? Are there any new factors?

In the end, we circulated a little Q&A around the ‘virtual’ office to see what the AA crew were thinking …

• Who Will Win the Drivers Title?

• Who Will Win the Constructors Title?

• Will the Lewis move get a tick or cross on the track?

• What are you looking forward to the most?

• Will any driver be sacked during the season? Who is at risk?

• What is the one thing you want to see above all?

• Who will win the Radio Whinger of the Year contest?

• Will Max cope with the FIA’s Swearing Rules?

PRAGMATISM AND romance seemed to guide the thinking on the Drivers’ title. The majority is saying a McLaren – it’s just which one … McLaren’s technical progress, aided by the excellence of its relatively new wind tunnel, (with the results seeming to relate directly to on-track outcomes), looks like continuing and the consensus –backed up by ‘our man’ Vasconcelas at the Bahrain test – is that it is the car to have, certainly in race trim. Qualifying? Maybe a different matter … but over-all, in race-spec, papaya

looks like the colour to have.

Our McLaren supporters are quite evenly split between the two drivers – Norris the more experienced but with self-doubt; Piastri the fastcoming, calm but tough dude – a bit of patriotism possibly swings it his way. This isn’t a British publication after all …

Max of course gets a solid level of support, and then, well … the romantics are pulling out their red t-shirts … Will Lewis’ presence add to a heavily revised Ferrari? And can he match the incumbent?

At times in 2024 it was close – very close, almost too close, between the McLaren pair. How will they handle it this year?

Below (top to bottom): Williams – has Carlos and an all-Australian sponsor; New Merc team leader Russell gets to babysit the new kid; Not allowed to swear, will Max resort to sign language? Images: GETTY IMAGES

The numbers say McLaren. The driver? Toss your coin …

McLAREN ALMOST clean-swept the Constructors voting. Not hard to see why – and Bahrain’s test provides no real counter-argument.

What about the rest? No-one seems to be putting anything much on Mercedes or Ferrari … but the question was asked: if Liam Lawson is a significant step up from the departed Perez, might that be enough for Red Bull to stack enough points together? Depends on whether the first nonNewey RB (the RB21) is up to it. But the consensus is strongly McLaren …

HAMILTON’S MOVE to Ferrari is a winwin, mostly. The day it was announced, Ferrari’s share value sky-rocketed. For some, that alone means a big tick.

There’s a significant hope that the change will re-invigorate the whole Ferrari team and that the heavilyrevised car might just bridge that fewtenths gap – Melbourne will be the first concrete indication, though the red cars’ race-trim runs in Bahrain were still that little bit shy of the best …

The main thing, for the romantics, is that Lewis is competitive. He’s 40 years old. Can he duke it out with Leclerc? It’s another of those wait-and-see things …

WHAT ARE rev-heads looking forward to the most? Good news for F1 is that there is a range of thoughts. A genuine four-way (team) contest, as per late 2024? A genuine four or five-driver contest? Can Oscar win in Melbourne? One of AA’s crew points to the unpredictability of having six rookies (or virtual rookies) on the grid – a couple in the ‘A’ teams. True – last year, there were no new faces in Melbourne …

THERE WAS a bit of driver turn-over during 2024 – but things look a bit more

settled this year, with the off-season changes likely to be it for a while at least.

The presence of Franco Colapinto at Alpine as a ‘spare’ driver, engineered by team advisor Flavio Briatore, has had a lot of press in terms of Jack Doohan’s security. Everyone just hopes that he is given a genuine fair go. But F1, as Nyck de Vries discovered, can be brutal. But hey, as our our very own Mr Vasconcelas points out in his car-bycar evaluation (following pages), Pierre Gasly can’t make any assumptions either – he’s been with the Alpine team for three years now and Flavio will be expecting him to deliver ‘A-Grade’ goods now, or he might just find that he’s the one on the way out …

WHAT WOULD people like to see, above all? Again, there’s a papaya flavour … Oscar as champion; Oscar beating Lando; Oscar winning in Melbourne – all that. There are those who want to see a group of drivers taking it to Max, not being intimidated by him.

And there’s the hope that Carlos Sainz will lift Williams. That’s going to be a tough one – the mid-field once great team is apparently already putting a lot of eggs into its 2026 new-car development basket, so 2025 could be a case of making the best of it, without throwing too much of its new Australian sponsor Atlassian’s cash at it. But with Carlos, there’s at least likely to be a whole lot less car corners and smashed-up wings littering the garage as there was with the fired-up Colapinto later last year …

RADIO WHINERS. Hmmm. In the context of Mr Ben Sulayem’s edict, and subsequent FIA regulations, on bad language and huge fines, this could be interesting … and the conversationstarter of the year.

Without doubt, so much attention will

Max, George and Lando appear to have the inside running in terms of keeping an eye on each other and passing on ‘observations’ … Though, and despite his efforts to stay calm, Yuki’s always a chance to explode.

But the attention will be on the front of the grid. No-one’s said you can’t dob anyone in any more, you’re just not allowed to swear – though the drivers themselves, via the GPDA, seem set to challenge the edict when they’re in the car – you know, under pressure.

A World Rally driver, Adrien Fourmaux, is already A$16,000 lighter after describing his efforts in a particular stage rather colourfully in a TV interview.

AND YES, given last year’s performance at Singapore, how is the world champion going to deal with the new language regime? His view is that most of the colourful phraseology emanating from his part of the room is simply dayto-day common descriptive chat!

Will we get a repeat of the monosyllabic press conference retorts, or will Max bend to the regulatory pressure? It could be the controversy of the year.

There’s at least one member of the AA team thinks it could go further: “He could f***ing quit over it,” he said as he dropped a $2 coin into the all new, FIAinspired AA swear-box.

Either way, as with his RB 21, Max will test the limits. A few grand isn’t much for someone on his income – in his case it’s a matter of principle!

Following pages: Car-by-car assessment; Formula 2/3 previews; the facts and stats. Melbourne’s opening round of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship kicks off early next week. If you’ve managed to get a ticket, enjoy … it really does look as if it could be quite a contest.

Go Oscar …

focus on Lewis Hamilton and how his Ferrari move will play out ...

HIGH-SPEED MUSICAL CHAIRS

TWELVE MONTHS AGO, AS F1 ASSEMBLED FOR THE FIRST GRAND PRIX OF THE YEAR, THERE WERE LITERALLY NO CHANGES IN THE LINE-UP ... THIS TIME, THE OFF-SEASON HAS SEEN A WAVE OF DRIVER AND TEAM CHANGES. AA’s F1 MAN-ON-THE-SPOT LUIS VASCONCELAS CASTS HIS EYE OVER THE 2025 GRID ... Images:

FERRARI

Repeating last year’s Constructors’ title and adding to it a first Drivers’ title since 2008 is McLaren’s declared goal and if the form shown in the second half of 2024 is anything to go by, chances are Zak Brown and his team will succeed. With a car that is the logical evolution of the previous one, McLaren needs to hit the ground running, something that hasn’t happened under the current set of regulations, to increase its chances of success. Andrea Stella’s biggest challenge, though, may be to keep his Drivers working together as well as they did last year, as it’s unlikely there will be a big points’ gap between the two that will make life easier to manage for the Italian engineer.

AGE: 25. DEBUT: 2019 Australian GP

NAT: British. STARTS: 128

BEST QUALIFYING: 1st (x9)

BEST RACE: 1st (x4). PODIUMS: 26

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 2nd (‘24). 2024: 2nd

Has Norris learned from his mistakes from 2024 and will he be able to take the battle to Verstappen when things get nasty? The British driver is adamant he is, but the way he handles himself in close battle year will be the judge of that. On paper, the Brit should have a very competitive car and will be motivated to avenge his defeat, but Norris will also have to overcome much stronger internal opposition than Verstappen, so his task may be harder than his rivals.

AGE: 23. DEBUT: 2023 Bahrain GP

NAT: Australian. STARTS: 46

BEST QUALIFYING: 2nd (x6)

BEST RACE: 1st (x2). PODIUMS: 10

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 4th (‘24) 2024: 4th

Entering his third Formula 1 season, Oscar Piastri has to be able to, at least, match Norris right from the start of the season and show he can fight for the title or risk being relegated to a supporting role inside McLaren. A harder driver than his team-mate, the young Australian needs to get off to a flying start to establish, right from the word go, that he’s the man the team should be supporting in the fight for the title. Becoming more consistent, in particular improving his qualifying, will be the key for Piastri’s success and with a very mature head on top of his young shoulders, he’s likely to rise to the occasion

There’s a feeling that Ferrari is ready to thrown more into the development of this year’s car than any of its rivals as, having missed the Constructors’ title by so little in 2024, Vasseur and his men want to get their hands on that crown as soon as possible rather than gamble of having a better baseline than any other team for 2026. Re-energized by the arrival of Hamilton at Maranello, the Scuderia has the most intriguing new line-up –if there’s no doubt the veteran Brit is still amazing on race day, Leclerc is believed to the fastest qualifier of all, so they both have quite a lot at stake this year.

AGE: 27. DEBUT: 2018 Australian GP

NAT: Monegasque. STARTS: 147

BEST QUALIFYING: 1st (x26)

BEST RACE: 1st (x8). PODIUMS: 43

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 2nd (‘22). 2024: 3rd

This is a decisive year for Charles, who has so far been happy to leave the limelight for new team mate Lewis Hamilton, but knows he must beat the seven-time world champion to prove that he’s the driver that will lead Ferrari to greater things in the next few years. Outfoxed by the more mature Sainz on several occasions, in 2025 Leclerc will have to show he’s learned from that experience, otherwise Hamilton will gain even more weight inside the team and put him in the shade. With Vasseur being a firm Leclerc believer, this is Charles’ greatest chance to prove his boss right.

AGE: 40. DEBUT: 2007 Australian GP

NAT: British. STARTS: 356

BEST QUALIFYING: 1st (x104)

BEST RACE: 1st (x105). PODIUMS: 202

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 1st (‘07,’14,’15,’17,’18,’19,’20) 2024: 7th

There’s new life in Lewis Hamilton and, after three years of pain and frustration at Mercedes, the veteran seems a new man since he joined Ferrari. Happier, chattier, more devoted than ever to his main job, Hamilton has essentially camped in Maranello since New Year, being more present in the team’s daily life than he ever was with McLaren or Mercedes. Managing to be at least on par with Leclerc in Qualifying won’t be an easy challenge but there’s no doubt the veteran’s race craft remains intact, so their internal battle will be fascinating to watch.

#4 LANDO NORRIS

#16 CHARLES LECLERC

#81 OSCAR PIASTRI

#44 LEWIS HAMILTON

DEBUT: 1966 MONACO GP DEBUT:

RED BULL

The RB21 is the first Red Bull that has no direct input from Adrian Newey since he joined the team 19 years ago but still is massively inspired by the concept he developed over the last three seasons. Nevertheless, after a tough second half of 2024, there’s a lot at stake for the new technical leadership and making the car less ‘pointy’ seems to have been its main priority. Verstappen is, obviously, a certainty and will be up there regardless, but there’s pressure to get Lawson to a good level asap as there’s no obvious replacement for the Kiwi if things don’t go well for him.

AGE: 27. DEBUT: 2015 Australian GP

NAT: Dutch. STARTS: 209

BEST QUALIFYING: 1st (x40)

BEST RACE: 1st (x63). PODIUMS: 112

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 1st (‘21,’22,’23,’24) 2024: 1st

The Dutchman goes into 2025 with the chance of equalling Michael Schumacher by winning his fifth title in a row – but is well aware this is probably his biggest challenge so far. The RB21 will not only test his ability to fight without necessarily having the fastest car but also his faith in the team without Newey, so there’s a lot more at stake for the Dutchman than ‘just’ winning another championship.

AGE: 22. DEBUT: 2023 Dutch GP

NAT: NZ. STARTS: 11

BEST QUALIFYING: 5th (x1)

BEST RACE: 9th (x3). PODIUMS: 0

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 20th (‘23) 2024: 21st

Lawson will have to do better than Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon before him, his two predecessors being too inexperienced to take on Verstappen when they were promoted too soon from Red Bull’s Junior team. His role has been clearly set by team principal Horner who, while allowing that the Kiwi might surprise with pace, explained the Kiwi is there to support Verstappen. But the ambitious Lawson will surely want more than that and prove he’s a much stronger proposition than his predecessor, Sérgio Pérez.

Now without Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes is getting a new energy since the arrival of the highly rated Kimi Antonelli in the team. The Italian is, undoubtedly, a future champion but is unlikely to be consistent enough in his first Formula 1 season to feature in the championship battle. Mind you, they said the same about Hamilton in 2007 and look at what happened … Under James Allison’s leadership, the design team seems to have finally understood and got rid of the flaws that have restricted Mercedes since 2022 and that’s why hopes are higher than in the previous seasons in the German camp.

AGE: 26. DEBUT: 2019 Australian GP

NAT: British. STARTS: 128

BEST QUALIFYING: 1st (x5)

BEST RACE: 1st (x3). PODIUMS: 15

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 4th (‘22) 2024: 7th

Getting the upper hand over Antonelli early in the season will be crucial for George Russell to keep his claim to Number One status inside Mercedes. With the team relying more on him than on the rookie for development direction, the very political English driver will certainly try to make the car as difficult as possible for the youngster, while keeping the characteristics he needs to shine himself. A tough wheel-to-wheel fighter, Russell will want to keep the battle with Verstappen as hot as possible, having understood he can get under the Dutchman’s skin more than Norris has managed.

AGE: 18. DEBUT: 2025 Aus GP

NAT: Italian STARTS: 0

BEST QUALIFYING: N/A

BEST RACE: N/A. PODIUMS: 0

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: N/A. 2024: N/A

Keeping his cool and ignoring all the noise around him will be Kimi Antonelli’s biggest challenge in his first Formula 1 season. There’s no doubt the young Italian is extremely quick and talented, with a very mature head for his age. He also comes with a reputation of giving extremely valuable feedback to the engineers, Nevertheless, 2025 will present him with huge challenges – first internally, as Russell has established himself as the natural leader inside the team, and then externally, as he’ll have to find out how is to fight with the best drivers in the world. My money is on Antonelli doing extremely well but lacking the consistency the veterans have.

DEBUT: 1954 FRENCH GP

#1 MAX VERSTAPPEN

#63 GEORGE RUSSELL

#30 LIAM LAWSON

#12 ANDREA KIMI ANTONELLI

ASTON MARTIN ALPINE

In a way this is a Year Zero for Aston Martin, as Adrian Newey has just arrived at Silverstone and will need time to work his magic. Given his main task is to make next year’s car a winner, the AMR25 may not get too much of his attention and, having been designed, essentially, by the same people who failed to improve last year’s car, may not be a strong contender in the midfield. With Andy Cowell reorganising the team and Enrico Cardille assisting Newey, there is however massive room for improvement, so 2025 could be the opposite story of 2023 and 2024 for Aston Martin, the team getting stronger as the year goes by.

AGE: 43 DEBUT: 2001 Aus GP

NAT: Spanish STARTS: 401

BEST QUALIFYING: 1st (x22)

BEST RACE: 1st (x32) PODIUMS: 106

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 1st (‘05,’06) 2024: 9th

A man who needs motivating factors, Fernando Alonso doesn’t have too many illusions about his chances this year but is relishing the opportunity of finally working with Adrian Newey. His feedback will be crucial to help the genial engineer improve the AMR25 early on in the season but both men’s focus will be on getting next year’s car spot on, as Alonso knows he doesn’t have many more years ahead in the sport and is still dreaming of that third title.

AGE: 26. DEBUT: 2017 Aus GP

NAT: Canadian. STARTS: 166

BEST QUALIFYING: 1st (x1)

BEST RACE: 3rd (x3). PODIUMS: 3

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 10th (‘23) 2024: 13th

The Canadian heads into his ninth Formula 1 season with the clear tag of ‘Daddy’s Boy’ still attached to him, after being unable to gain the upper hand over any of his previous team-mates. The chance to work with Newey offers Stroll the final opportunity to demonstrate he’s still in Formula 1 on merit, but very few (or no-one) in the Paddock believes 2025 will change the way he’s seen in the sport.

Last year’s internal revolution seems to have worked wonders, such was the pace of development last year’s A524 showed in the final part of the season. The new management now has its first real test of fire, as the team will start off the championship in much better shape than in 2024, but will need a similar rate of development as last year’s to finally close the gap to the front of the field.

AGE: 28. DEBUT: 2017 Malaysian GP

NAT: French. STARTS: 153

BEST QUALIFYING: 2nd (x1)

BEST RACE: 1st (x1). PODIUMS: 5

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 7th (‘19) 2024: 10th

Finally rid of Esteban Ocon as team-mate, Pierre Gasly has to establish himself as the undisputed team leader against Jack Doohan right from the start of the season. Many believe it’s the young Australian that is seriously under pressure to keep his seat, given Colapinto is lurking behind him, but the way Flavio Briatore operates, there’s possibly even more pressure on Gasly – for if he doesn’t clearly beat the young Aussie early on, he may be the one to get the chop to make way for Colapinto …

AGE: 21. DEBUT: 2024 Abu Dhabi GP

NAT: Australian. STARTS: 1

BEST QUALIFYING: 17th (x1)

BEST RACE: 15th (x1) PODIUMS: 0

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 24th (‘24) 2024: 24th

It has been tremendously unfair to put Doohan under so much pressure when he’s about to start his first Formula 1 season, but let’s say that’s the normal welcome one gets from Flavio Briatore. The Aussie has done well to shut out ll the ‘white noise’ and do what he has to do, on and off the track, even though there’s no period of grace for him. How he does until the Miami Grand Prix will possibly determine what the rest of his Formula 1 career will be and, while he may not be the fastest driver in the world, Doohan has a strong head that can help him achieve his goals.

#14 FERNANDO ALONSO

#7 JACK DOOHAN

#18 LANCE STROLL

#10 PIERRE GASLY

Now in the second year under Ayao Komatsu’s leadership, Haas is a team transformed by the Japanese engineer’s vision, with big changes made in the structure, an auspicious partnership with Toyota and a completely new line-up that promises a l ot of speed, but with some friction as well. Starting off as strong as Haas ended last season won’t be easy but if Komatsu can keep the progress rate as strong as it was in 2024 then the midfield will have a strong contender in the American team.

RACING BULLS

AGE: 28. DEBUT: 2016 Belgian GP

NAT: French. STARTS: 156

BEST QUALIFYING: 3rd (x2)

BEST RACE: 1st (x1). PODIUMS: 4

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 8th (‘18, ’22) 2024: 14th

Getting an early release from Alpine allowed Esteban Ocon to start his work with Haas earlier, the Frenchman feeling this is the first opportunity he gets to lead a Formula 1 team and being determined to make the most out of it. Being the more experienced driver, Ocon will be obviously heard by the engineers and has shown he’s got enough racecraft to handle any battle. It’s in Qualifying he seems to miss that final edge that the top drivers have and against the highly promising Bearman the veteran will have to be on his A-game to keep his status intact.

AGE: 19. DEBUT: 2024 Saudi GP

NAT: British. STARTS: 3

BEST QUALIFYING: 10th (x1)

BEST RACE: 7th (x1). PODIUMS: 0

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 18th (‘24). 2024: 18th

Team boss Ayao Komatsu is a big fan of young Oliver Bearman and being an experienced operator knows how to shelter the youngster from most rookie errors. Able to stave off any kind of pressure, Bearman has already proved he’s extremely quick and also a quick learner, something that was very handy in his three 2024 cameo appearances. Now in a team he knows well, with Komatsu to guide him and Ferrari to offer its full support to their Academy driver, Bearman needs to beat Ocon on-track to confirm all the good the Japanese engineer and Fred Vasseur think of him.

The Italian team has gone full circle and is now taking as much inspiration and technology from Red Bull as the rules allow. The upside of that is having a solid aero and mechanical baseline to work on and access to all the data coming from Milton Keynes; the downside comes with lack of autonomy to make fundamental changes on the car if something is not working as it should. The new dual leadership, with Peter Bayer and Laurent Mekies, worked well in 2024 but has to make even more progress this year or risk falling behind the opposition.

AGE: 24. DEBUT: 2021 Bahrain GP

NAT: Japanese. STARTS: 87

BEST QUALIFYING: 3rd (x1)

BEST RACE: 4th (x1). PODIUMS: 0

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 12th (‘24). 2024: 12th

Promoted to more experienced driver in the team, Yuki Tsunoda has one year to prove he deserves more than remaining in Red Bull’s junior team forever. Understandably upset that Liam Lawson got the promotion he felt he deserved, the Japanese driver now has to prove he’s mature enough to lead Racing Bulls and put himself in the shop window, should the main team or Aston Martin feel they need a new driver to partner their clear number one drivers in 2026. Keeping the very fast Hadjar behind won’t be easy, so there’s a lot at stake for Tsunoda right from the start of the season.

AGE: 20. DEBUT: 2025 Australian GP

NAT: French. STARTS: 0

BEST QUALIFYING: N/A

BEST RACE: N/A. PODIUMS: N/A

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: N/A. 2024: N/A

With Lawson called up to replace Pérez, there was an unexpected opening for Isack Hadjar to get a promotion to Formula 1 and now the Frenchman has one year to prove he deserves his chance. Very quick and a fierce fighter in wheel-to-wheel battle, Hadjar comes to Formula 1 with the reputation of being quite emotional and error-prone but, with Mekies guiding him, he’s in the best possible team to mature quickly. Beating Tsunoda has to be his goal as Red Bull pins high hopes on Formula 2 rookie Arvid Lindblad and the Frenchman has to do enough to keep his seat for 2026 as well.

#31 ESTEBAN OCON

#22 YUKI TSUNODA

#87 OLLIE BEARMAN

#20 ISACK HADJAR

WILLIAMS

James Vowles has warned everyone at Williams this will be a tough year as the team is putting all its efforts into the 2026 car – but with a solid title sponsor, a much-changed technical team and a Grand Prix winner joining the very quick Alex Albon for the next two years, one has to doubt there will be little effort to maximize the new potential of the team. Ex-Ferrari man Carlos Sainz provides valuable experience and technical know-how, so it will be very disappointing if Williams doesn’t make a clear step forward this season.

SAUBER

AGE: 30. DEBUT: 2015 Australian GP

NAT: Spanish. STARTS: 206

BEST QUALIFYING: 1st (x6)

BEST RACE: 1st (x4). PODIUMS: 27

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 5th (‘21,’22,’24). 2024: 5th

Carlos could have taken the easy way out and joined Audi or Alpine, two teams that, on paper, had more potential than Williams, but was convinced by James Vowles’ vision and decided to take the plunge by joining this historic team.

A hard worker, with clear ideas about how to develop a car and improve a team, Sainz is one of Williams greatest assets and, given how close he was to Charles Leclerc in terms of absolute pace, he’s a clear step forward for the squad as well. Against Albon, Sainz knows he has a very quick, albeit not too consistent, team-mate and beating him will cement his position as the new leader inside Williams.

AGE: 28. DEBUT: 2019 Australian GP

NAT: Thai. Starts: 104

BEST QUALIFYING: 4th (x5)

BEST RACE: 3rd (x2). PODIUMS: 2

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 7th (‘20). 2024: 16th

Unchallenged by Latifi or Sargeant since he joined Williams, Alex Albon had a rude awakening when Franco Colapinto replaced the American driver but quickly raised his game to keep his status intact inside the team. Sainz, however, will be a much tougher nut to crack, as he’s far more experienced than Albon, comes with the clear target of leading the team and bringing it back to its glory days and is a very smooth operator – on and off the track. The apolitical Albon will have to work harder than ever outside the tracks to make sure he doesn’t sink under Sainz’s increasing influence over the whole team.

There’s little or nothing left of the team that struggled so much at the start of 2024 – there are so many new faces in key positions since Audi decided to fire Andreas Seidl and hire Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley to lead the Swiss-based team. The duo inherits some of the choices made by the German, as James Key has remained as Technical Director and Nico Hulkenberg had already signed a long-term deal. Given the design team was largely unchanged until late in 2024, it’s unlikely the new car will be a clear progress step, so this may be another difficult season for Sauber – the last under the current name.

AGE: 37. DEBUT: 2010 Bahrain GP

NAT: German. STARTS: 227

BEST QUALIFYING: 1 (x1)

BEST RACE: 4th (x3). PODIUMS: 0

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: 7th (‘18). 2024: 11th

Having signed a three-year deal to join Audi last April, Nico Hulkenberg saw Andreas Seidl leave the team before he had the chance to sit in one the green and black cars, so it’s fair to say the goalposts moved for the veteran. Still, having been with Sauber one decade ago, Hulkenberg knows what to expect and will be working to build up as strong a platform as he can for 2026. But he’ll have the highly-rated Gabriel Bortoleto as team-mate and the Brazilian was Binotto’s personal choice, so their internal battle may define Hulkenberg’s future at Audi, regardless of his contractual situation.

AGE: 20. DEBUT: 2025 Australian GP

NAT: Brazilian. STARTS: 0

BEST QUALIFYING: N/A

BEST RACE: N/A. PODIUMS: 0

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP: N/A. 2024: N/A

Bortoleto comes into F1 after back-to-back titles in Formula 3 and Formula 2, joining the likes of Leclerc, Russell and Piastri with that illustrious resume. The personal choice of new team leader Mattia Binotto, the Brazilian clearly has a talent way above the average but will be finding, for the first time in his life, what’s it like to be running at the back of the field. Still, Bortoleto seems to be quite mature for his age and has enough speed to bother Hulkenberg, but will obviously need a few races to get into his stride and to prove the huge potential he’s credited with is real.

#23 ALEX ALBON

#27 NICO HULKENBURG

#55 CARLOS SAINZ

#5 GABRIEL BORTOLETO

MANSELL READY FOR F2 CHALLENGE

AUSTRALIA’S CHRISTIAN Mansell

(above) will be the local hope when the FIA Formula 2 Championship comes to Melbourne next week.

After showing impressive improvement across his two F3 seasons, finishing 12th with Campos and fifth with five podiums last year with ART, he now steps up to the next level.

He will be the only Australian racing F2 as he sits just one step away from following Oscar Piastri and Jack Doohan into F1. Mansell will chase that dream

with Rodin Motorsport, but is no total newcomer to the second-tier category.

He got a taste of what is to come by taking part in the final three rounds of the 2024 FIA F2 season with Trident.

From six races, across Baku, Lusail and Yas Marina, Mansell impressed by finishing in the top 10 and scoring points in half of those races.

It has not been the easiest build-up for Rodin as both of its cars were scrubbed from the second day of pre-season testing in Spain due

to breaching Article 10.2 of the FIA Formula 2 Sporting Regulations – a simple paperwork shortfall ...

However, Mansell could be encouraged by finishing seventh on the opening day.

Elsewhere there will be a number of other promising drivers to watch out for as they try to shine and prove they are ready for their F1 dream.

After dominating Formula Regional in New Zealand, Red Bull backed Brit Arvid Lindblad will be one to watch for Campos.

He topped the opening day of

CLIMBING THE LADDER

JAMES WHARTON will be the latest Aussie looking to make an impression in FIA Formula 3 in 2025.

After multiple Aussies have raced F3 in recent years, Wharton will be the sole driver enjoying local support when the season starts at Albert Park. The boy from Bundoora will be taking on the third-tier championship with ART as, effectively, Mansell’s replacement.

Wharton has built a strong reputation, having never finishing lower than sixth in any full season he has competed in.

Growing up in Melbourne, making an F3 debut at home will be a special moment for the teenager.

Images: MOTORSPORT

His team, ART, finished third in the

IMAGES/LAT, SUPPLIED

Teams title last year, but all-new cars are debuting coming this year with revamped aero, bigger tyres and sustainable fuel.

As a result Wharton does not quite know what to expect.

“It is hard to say where we will be sitting this year with a brand new car coming along,” Wharton told Auto Action at the start of the year.

“If it was 2024 I would believe we are in a very good position, but we do not know who is going to be fast and which car is going to be the best.

“It is very hard to predict, but I know if I have the car underneath me and have all the right things, we could fight for the championship. I am aiming to win the championship.”

Testing has taken place at Barcelona and provided an early form guide.

Noel León for Prema topped the opening day before Nikola Tsolov set the fastest time of the weekend with a 1:26.618s on Day 2, whilst the final day’s running was marred by rain.

Wharton got as high as 12th across the three days.

One driver locals will also watch is Kiwi Louis Sharp, who comes with high expectations after winning British F4 and GB3 in the last two years.

In fact, Rodin rate him so highly that they believe the 17-year-old can win the F3 title on debut. He got as high as third in testing.

“I’m with Rodin Motorsport, the team I’ve been with for the last three

Spain testing and finished just ahead of Mansell in F3 last year.

However, it was Gabriele Minì that ended the two-day test with the fastest time of 1:23.660.

Mini just missed out on the 2024 F3 title to Leonardo Fornaroli and the pair will renew their rivalry with the Frenchman at Prema and the Italian at reigning Teams champions Invicta.

The only member of the top five from last year’s F2 standings that is going again is Jak Crawford with an all new-look grid to do battle.

Thomas Miles

seasons now, and I couldn’t ask for a better place to be. There’s obviously goals we have in mind,” he said.

“I don’t want to put too much added pressure or expectation on it ... but in my first season, I want to be fighting at the front, and I want to be fighting for wins.”

Thomas Miles

Image: DUTCH PHOTO AGENCY

James Wharton, testing.

Image: DUTCH PHOTO AGENCY

2025 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX SCHEDULE 2025 FORMULA 1 CALENDAR

THURSDAY, MARCH 13

TIME CATEGORY SESSION

10.10-10.40 Carrera Cup Practice

15.25-15.40 Supercars Qualifying 1 15.50-16.05 Supercars Qualifying 2 16.50-17.45 Carrera Cup Race 1 17.50 Supercars Race 1 (19 laps)

FRIDAY, MARCH 14 TIME CATEGORY SESSION

9.05-9.15 Supercars Qualifying 3

9.25-9.35 Supercars Qualifying 4 11.15 Formula 3

SUPERCARS ALBERT PARK CHAMPIONSHIP RACE WINNERS

3: Brodie Kostecki Race 4: Broc Feeney

BRAKE CLEANER

Image: CACKLING PIPES PHOTOGRAPHY

XIBERRAS BREAKS DROUGHT

TOP FUEL veteran Peter Xiberras has finally taken his maiden victory at Perth Motorplex after taking the 54th annual Westernationals.

The third National Drag Racing Championship round saw a strong crowd gather out west.

After last-minute trouble struck defending champion Damien Harris, who was pushed back from the start line, Xiberras ran an impressive 3.854-second 502.36kph run all the way to the deep end and laid down the only 500kph+ run of the finals.

Earlier in the day, Xiberras had taken the Round 1 and Round 2 victories –4.001/425.02kph over a red lighting Phil Lamattina (6.354/170.18kph) and 3.895/473.36kph over a pedalling Phil

Read (4.708/257.37kph) who had a job on his hands after getting out of shape off the line in that run.

Damien Harris was the only other Top Fuel racer to claim two round victories ahead of the finals, with the

defending champ and Top Qualifier also resetting his own Perth Motorplex Top Fuel speed record to 519.5kph (from 519.06kph), in his 3.813s second round performance – a marker he had previously set in April 2022.

With the two round wins and a A-Final victory to his name this weekend, Xiberras was all smiles as he emerged from his dragster after the final run.

“This one is for the team. It’s for all the guys and girls who work tirelessly and put so much effort in – even when things aren’t looking so good, they keep backing it up and backing it up. Without them, I wouldn’t be here,” Xiberras grinned as he celebrated the win in the deep end.

“This is the first time I’ve won here.”

In the B-Final, WA underdog Kyle Putland had the crowd on its feet as Top Fuel’s newest racer went all the way to the end with a blistering 3.969-second 460.66kph run in

(7.169/249.29kph and 6.148/384.90kph) in both rounds one and two.

While it wasn’t the first time he has held a Christmas Tree, it was still a very special moment for the young racer.

“This is the first one I have had that is Gold and has Top Doorslammer on it! I am shaking, I can’t believe it. This is a dream come true,” he said.

“I have to thank the whole crew; everyone has worked their bums off all weekend.

“We went testing on Thursday trying to find some more performance and we’ve just been consistent and it has paid off.”

Defending Top Doorslammer champion Russell Taylor enjoyed a solo run in the B-Final after Maurice Brennan’s wounded Just Flooring Commodore suffered mechanical issues after round two and was unable to appear.

308.77kph win over McGuinness (8.326/193.81), whose run had started strongly before he ran into trouble midway through and chose to back off.  Muscat had earlier enjoyed a bye in Round 1 thanks to his Top Qualifying effort, running a 6.625-second 252.07kph, before another solo pass in Round 2 where, complete with fireworks from his Nitro Phoenix racer, he delivered a 6.209-second 307.42kph run.

Despite a wheel stand to the 800ft line in round one, McGuinness (6.561/296.92kph) got the better of Greg Durack (7.795/319.07kph) in Round 1, before running solo in Round 2 (8.401/203.16kph) when Corey Buttigieg was pushed back from the start.

Tony Wood was another racer to take wins in all three rounds, including the B-Final over runner-up Greg Durack.

the final, over Wayne Newby (6.653/142.24kph).

Putland, who had been chasing a three-second run all weekend, didn’t let off the gas even as Newby, who had been battling clutch issues all weekend, shut off early in the run.

It was a side-by-side drag race in the C-Final for Phil Lamattina and Phil Read until the former’s Fuchs Lubricants dragster erupted in a fireball, with Read driving on through for the win.

Running in the left lane for the first time on the day, this was also the Hydraulink Jim Read Racing pilot’s best run of the night (3.862/455.41kph).

IN TOP DOORSLAMMER, the A-Final victory was a particularly popular result, with young rookie Brodie Zappia not only making it all the way to the A-Final but also claiming his first Top Doorslammer victory mere months after obtaining his licence late last year.

Brodie Zappia’s final run started with a wild burnout, almost sending the 19-year-old into the wall before racing even began.

Lined up against Steve Aldridge, the young gun ran all the way through to the end with an impressive 5.899-second 385.58kph holeshot over Aldridge (5.812/397.02kph), who gave it everything he had.

Consistency was the name of the game for the younger Zappia all weekend, with the nephew of 11-time champion John Zappia also claiming wins (5.871/388.10kph and 5.859/387.39kph) over Frank Taylor

In the C-Final, John Zappia lined up against Lisa Gregorini in a rematch of not only their second-round run but also the Nitro Slam event earlier in the year.

While Lisa Gregorini had dispatched the 11-time champ on both of those occasions, in the C-Final it went the way of the Dananni Hotshots Fuchs Monaro, with the elder Zappia (5.725/401.15kph) sailing through to the end as Gregorini suffered a wheelstand at the start.

In the D-Final Mark Chapman (6.316/376.46kph) claimed the win over an issues-plagued Daniel Gregorini, who was pushed back from the start and was unable to run.

IN TOP FUEL Motorcycle, Damian Muscat and Wayne McGuinness headed to the A-Final after taking two wins apiece, making for a highly competitive final match-up.

When all was said and done, Muscat drove all the way for a 6.448-second

IN SPORTSMANS, Jake Chaisty over Todd Stacy (Super Stock), Connor McClure over Jon Ferguson (Competition), Lisa Garbellini over Daniel Brecich (Super Street), Kyle Higgins over Michael North (Super Sedan), Kasey McClure over Peter Appleby (Supercharged Outlaws), Tony Ambrosini over Paul De Klerk (Modified Bike), Nixon Cannuli over Nathaniel Kuchel (Junior Dragster), Riley Kilvington over Tyler James (Junior Drag Bike), Chris Allen over Michael Holister (Competition Bike), and Yvette Gregg over Roger Moorhouse (Top Sportsman).

In Modified Eliminator, Paul Garbellini won the event over Michelle Morrison, however Paul is ineligible for NDRC points or trophies due to his personal decision to not carry the required championship decal as per the rules and regulations.

The 2024/2025 NDRC season continues across April 5-6 at Dragway at The Bend for the Riverbend

Xiberras (left and above) enjoyed his first ever win in WA.

Below left: Damian Harris took two rownd wins.

Above right: Brodie Zappia shaded Steve Aldrige in Top Doorslammer.

Right (top to bottom): Top qualifier Damien Muscat took Top Fuel Motorcycle; Top Sportsman went to Yvette Gregg.

KINGSHOT EXTENDS LEAD

DAYNE KINGSHOTT (pictured) took out Round 19 of the 2024/25 Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series at Ellenbrook Speedway on Sunday night.

Kingshott was victorious after overcoming the likes of Callum Williamson and Daniel Harding. It was an important result as heading into the event, Kingshott held a 58-point lead over Williamson.

And with the top two in the championship being the top two on the track, the Krikke Motorsport driver has extended his advantage.

Kingshott said it was hard work in the heat:

“It was a pretty wild race track and very technical which is just the way I like it,” he said.

“That helped me a little bit and good to put it on the top step

“She was warm, but we know to expect that, and it was still a good meeting.

“It was not one lane, but very narrow, so it was hard to get past

lapped cars and wanted to take my time a bit tonight.

“I knew it was going to be hard to pass, so I just kept it calm and set my pace up front and managed to do that.”

However, it was far from an easy drive with Williamson providing a nervous moment, mounting an

attack on Kingshott, only for it to be suddenly cut short due to a cabin fire.

“I got lucky with a few yellows, but I have been unlucky in the last few weeks, so it was good to have one go my way,” Kingshott said.

“I was back-pedalling the car and could not be where I anted

to be. He sort of drove by me and was pounding it, so luckily we go the restart and it was ‘full send’ after that.”

Only three rounds remain and they are all at Perth Motorplex across the next three weekends, starting with the Silver Cup. Thomas Miles

QUEENSLANDERS TAKE OVER LISMORE

QUEENSLAND DUO of Lachlan

McHugh (pictured) and Kye Jensen were the big winners from a big meeting at Castrol Lismore Speedway where they won the $5,000 Hoedown at the Showground and the NSW LS 360 Sprintcar Title events respectively. Driving the #74 Tullboro Race Store Triple X car, McHugh powered to the lead from the outset and went on to claim a comfortable victory and his first with the team.

Heading into the Hoedown at the Showground event, it was far from the ideal lead up following Tulloch and his team being forced to rebuild a car following the previous weekend’s Ultimate Pink Night at Toowoomba Speedway in Queensland.

Following McHugh across the finish line were fellow Queenslanders in Jy Corbet and Randy Morgan.

After a tough run for most of this

season, Corbet was pleased to make a return up the front of the field and claim a second place, while Morgan backed up his podium finish the previous weekend.

Finishing just off the Hoedown at the Showground podium in fourth was Callum Walker, who was followed by one of the pre-event favourites in Luke

Oldfield and Kaydon Iverson.

Sharing the top bill with the Hoedown at the Showground was the NSW LS 360 Sprintcar Title, which saw Jensen continue his good recent run.

He started the NSW Title feature race from second, before he went on to be the form driver throughout the

25-lap event.

At the fall of the chequered flag for the NSW Title decider, Jensen managed to defeat local Jacob Jolley and a fast-finishing Mitchell Randall. Jolley had started from pole position, while Randall came from position nine in the field. Veteran Allan Woods picked up fourth place ahead of Luke Manttan.

Local Madison Harkin proved too strong for his rivals in the feature race for the Production Sedans.

The Junior Sedans action, the Top Stars category was topped in third generation racer Erica Robinson picking up her very first feature race victory as Aston Bilson drove to New Stars spoils.

The next event for Castrol Lismore Speedway is set to be on the Saturday night of March 15.

Daniel Powell

Image: RICHARD HATHAWAY PHOTOGRAPHY

Image: DANIEL KEOGH PHOTOGRAPHY

McHUGH TICKLED PINK

OVER THREE thousand spectators turned out for the Dondex Ultimate Pink Night at Hi-Tec-Oils Toowoomba Speedway where Lockie McHugh put on a show on the dirt.

More than $35,000 was raised for the Toowoomba Hospital Foundation BreastScreen Queensland Toowoomba Service, ensuring they exceeded the four-year goal of $100,000.

On the track, the main show was dominated by McHugh, who started on the front row alongside pole sitter Michael Stewart.

Stewart got the better start and quickly took control of the race lead but McHugh had a big look down the inside as they came through Turn 2. The pair traded the lead back and forth over the next couple of laps as Ryan Newton closed in quickly to join them.

Stewart took to the high line to win the battle moments before Newton also slipped through on the bottom of McHugh and relegated him back to third.

Nine laps in and Newton went

on the attack, and got underneath Michael Stewart in lapped traffic, taking control of the race.

But it was short-lived as the luckless Newton and fourth placed Harry Stewart clipped Dylan Menz’s upturneded car in Turn 4, ending their night.

Newton, who earlier in the night was the only driver to get into the 11-second bracket, and Harry Stewart were wiped out.

From the restart, Luke Oldfield and Nick Whell had a brilliant battle, the pair racing side-by-side for a number of laps. Charlie Bowen, from the B-Main, made impressive progress forward  towards the front of the field – he would finish fifth at race end, while Tarhlea Apelt also moved forward, for ninth.

McHugh led the restart from Randy Morgan while Callum Walker and Michael Saller battled for the final podium positions as the laps counted down.

McHugh went on to take a commanding win with Morgan having a good drive to come home

second ahead of Saller.

Darren Kane claimed the feature win in Super Sedan Championship Grand Final on Saturday Night.

In doing so has won the Championship points standings, as second across the line was Todd Atkins It ended up being a thrilling race which saw numerous race lead changes as Atkins came through the field.

When the cars rolled out for the 30 -lap feature, and after an initial restart, Sean Black and Jason Boss were side-by-side and Black nicely drove his way past to take the lead.

But when Black was momentarily slowed by a lapped car, Kane took the opportunity to snatch the lead.

Atkins and Black then raced sideby-side for the next two laps but the former simply ran out of laps with just 0.339s separating himself and Kane at the end of a hectic 30 laps.

When the Modlites took to the track for the Everyday Finance Solutions feature race, Josh Leerentveld led them into Turn 1

for their 20-lap event.

Further back they were running three wide as Terry Leerentveld moved through the middle and into second.

By this point in the race, Ryan Silcock had moved into third and then to second as Leerentveld grabbed the back straight wall and lost momentum.

Meanwhile, Josh Leerentveld held a comfortable lead, setting the quickest time of the race at that point.

Deep in lapped traffic, Silcock was all over the back of Leerentveld and searching for a way through – with three laps to run Silcock was throwing everything he had at Leerentveld. But at the checkered flag it was Josh Leerentveld from a hard-charging Ryan Silcock and Jayden Hancock.

Leerentveld celebrated the first feature win of his career – there is no better way for doing it than on home turf.

Sprintcars are back at Toowoomba on March 8.

David Budden

After an early tussle, McHugh went on to a commanding win.

Image: ANDY TICEHURST MEDIA

DAVIS SHOOTS CLEAR

CHRIS DAVIS (pictured) secured his third career Australian Lightning Sprint Title recently at Rosedale Speedway in Victoria, but his journey to this latest Australian Title victory was far from easy.

Heading into an Australian Title as the defending champion always comes with a fair bit of pressure; however, Davis had to battle several challenges on top of that throughout the night’s race meeting, such as mechanical issues, coming under fire from the officials and visiting the Rosedale Speedway track for the very first time.

The win added to his previous two wins, in 2024 at Goulburn Speedway and 2018 at Tamworth Speedway.

But that is what made his third Australian Title victory all that much sweeter behind the wheel of #1 TriCity Smash Repairs / Hyper Racing NSW supported Hyper Car.

“I certainly had to work hard for this Australian Title win but, despite the challenges, I managed to use my experience to my advantage and keep my cool, and it rewarded me with the best possible result,” the 32-year-old said.

“During my heat races, I battled with some steering issues and in

my final heat race I was sent rearof-field for allegedly jumping the start but, despite all of this, I was able to qualify the fourth highest point scorer and it gave me a strong starting spot for the feature race.

“Going into the feature race, I had some of the country’s best racers around me, so I knew I had to get to he front early if I was going to be a chance, and that’s exactly how it turned out.

“There was an early red light on lap eight and I was sitting in second, but

soon after the restart, I managed to get to the front, and that was where I stayed all the way through to the finish.

“I’ve been racing Lightning Sprints for nearly 12 seasons now, so to have three Australian Title wins to my name now and be up there with the likes of Sean Barnett, Dean McComb, Dave Fanning and AJ McTaggart as winners of three or more Australian Titles is something that I’m very proud of.

“Another couple of cool moments

to come from this latest Australian Title win is to win in front of my wife and our two kids.”

This latest Australian Title win adds to Davis’ impressive 2024-25 season campaign which also contains Spring Nationals and Gold Cup wins at Sydney International Speedway.

The next major event on the 202425 season calendar for Davis and his team will be the Victorian Title on March 29 at Wangaratta City Speedway.

Daniel Powell

JUNIORS LEAD THE WAY

BAIRNSDALE WAS the place to be on February 22 as the Junior Sedan Promotion Association trekked into town with lots of local competitors in Limited Sportsman, Division 2 Hot Rods, Open Standard Saloons and Junior Standard Saloons.

James Peacock (pictured) and Noah Basten claimed victories in the JSPA competition whilst Steane Cosson fronted the opening lap of the feature. Then Brad Marshall stepped up for the next few laps before Peacock took control on lap six.

Once Peacock hit the front he was never passed from that point, although he was challenged with Marshall trying to wrest back the lead before Carlin and then finally Will

Fallon had runs in second place.

Sub-category competition in the New Stars JSPA saw Noah Basten quickly move to the lead in the feature race and set about establishing a significant lead ahead of Hudson Moorfoot and Jackson Heaphy.

But Basten was never headed and went on to claim victory from Moorfoot.

In Division 2 Hot Rods it was a night of spills, thrills, and disqualifications.

Trent Wilson and Troy Wilson (no relations) were both deemed causes of race incidents and excluded from a race result by the Steward, with Troy Wilson copping his exclusion during the final.

Troy led most of the race before Ben

Crittenden hit the front and a last lap attempt to pass back into the lead all went wrong.

Crittenden was awarded the win at the final stoppage as Laidlaw locked in a second-place.

In Open Standard Saloon Kokshoorn dominated, leading every lap in the final to go on to claim his first senior career victory since his return to racing long after his Junior Sedan memories.

Vuillermin and Jack Yeomans swapped positions in second a couple of times before the former got on top.

Limited Sportsman saw Darren Adams get challenged consistently by Mal Siely.

However, Adams still went on to

lead every lap in the final.

The Junior Standard Saloons went to Nathan Miles from Tannah Lee. Bairnsdale Speedway will return on March 22 led by a 50 lap Sports Sedan feature event.

Dean Thompson

Image: ZP IMAGES

Image: IN THE PITS PHOTOGRAPHY – BIANCA TURNER

OVERCOMING HORSHAM HEAT

THE TEMPERATURE peaked just shy of 40 degrees in lead-up to the running of the Ti Bill’s Race Parts & Injectors Victorian Wingless Sprint Championship, combined with the R&L Douglas Earthmoving Victorian Unlimited Sedan Title at Horsham’s Blue Ribbon Raceway.

Despite two short power outages due to the 37 degree conditions, the large crowd were treated to some thrilling on track action.

A huge field of 55 Wingless Sprints coming from as far as the Northern Territory, Tasmania and South Australia came to take on Victoria’s best the event provided plenty of thrills and spills from the V6 powered opened wheeled warriors.

The qualifying heats were hotly contested and with two wins a piece Brad Warren and Todd Moule would share the front row for the 30-lap final. Warren got the better of the starts and, with clear track ahead, took command followed by Moule,

crown on the final podium step in fourth.

Local racer, Danny Smith fired the first shot taking the opening heat race with singles to Trent Susol, Corey Ramsdale and Anthony McKean.

Warrick Taylor looked strong taking two wins but sadly would not take his place for the 30-lap final with overheating issues from the extreme conditions.

By one-third race journey, Millar advanced to second and Broome to third two laps further into the journey as Moule steadily dropped back to sixth.

Warren was never headed over the journey and went on to claim the Victorian Championship. Joining him on the podium were Millar, Blake Walsh, who had advanced from 12th, and Broome would relinquish his

The list of retiree’s read: Wayne Logue, Thomas Mcdonald, Chris Ansell, Logan Davis who had a big crash, Sam Martin, Will Green and Kirby Hillyer.

The Unlimited Sedan Title saw a strong field of 14 competitors with a combined field of Late Models, Super Sedans and AMCA Nationals to do battle for the coveted #1 championship.

This left the door open for the rest of the field and it would be Susol, with front row advantage, taking the victory, parking his Late Model in Victory Lane with Smith, Brian Simon and Gavin Ough behind.

Supporting the prestige titles were not one but two classes of Junior Sedans.

The 1200cc machines in their own heats and the Juniors (New and Top Stars).

Riley Greig took the outright victory after starting from the rear ahead of Jaylen Knight and Jack Mills.

Paris Charles

FURLER FIRES UP FOR SUNLINE OPENER

WAIKERIE’S SUNLINE Speedway, located in the Riverland district of South Australian fired up their 2025 summer season with a variety of racing.

The event started with a moving tribute to recently passed track promoter Robbie ‘Wacka’ Stevens and former Sedan racer come venue sponsor Peter Whyatt.

As the teams lined along the front straight to pay their respects, the Super Sedans in formation did a lap of honour, which was followed by a speech from Stevens partner and copromoter Jen Lemar, and a minute’s silence before the first of the green flags was unfurled.

The featured class was the Wingless Sprints for the fifth round of their state series and the large crowd on hand were entertained right from the get-go.

At the drop of the green Furler took control and by quarter race distance Tapley had moved to second.

But by the halfway mark, Bolitho had

slowly dropped back to fourth where he would finish.

Tapley pressured for the lead but was unable to find a way past Furler and Thomas Walkom advanced to third to also share the podium spoils.

The Super Sedans revved loud and proud in their 15-lap final.

Kym Hammerstein found the fastest way to the chequered flag, chased hard by Paul Blenkiron and Chris Ferguson.

Nick Hall proved too strong in the second round of the V6 Sprint King of the Riverland Series, taking a flag-toflag victory from Kym Simon, Renee Pfieler, Toby McCarthy and Brenton Philips.

From position five, Dylan Richter would slice his way through the field to take victory in 15-lap Modlite feature.

Jake Armstrong produced a mixed bag dropping to as deep as seventh before working his way to lead for four laps only to be relegated to second in a depleted field which would only see five finishers.

Mark Sheen claimed the two Modified Sedan heats races –however Justin Demaine would go one better in the 12-lap final, making Sheen the meat in a Demaine Sandwich as Danni Demaine followed and Jayden Riordan rounded out the finishers.

A thrilling battle in the 10-lap Street Stock final saw the lead change several times between race winner

Phil Watson and runner up Nigel Reichstein.

The Junior Sedans were divided into both New and Top Star divisions.

The top Stars, the more experienced and faster, was won by Lachlan Brown, chased by Jayden Garner, while in the 10-lap New Stars final Demi Jennings claimed the victory from Hannah Harris. Paris Charles

,Travis Millar and defending champion Mitchell Broome.

Wingless Sprints victor Rylan Furler. Image: PARIS CHARLES

Trent Susol, Victorian VSC Unlimited Sedan Champion. Image: TANYA EASTWOOD

BRITTEN GROWS A SIX PACK

BRISBANE’S KEVIN Britten made V8 Dirt Modified history when he became the only six-time National champion after a hard-fought win at Warrnambool’s Premier Stadium.

Britten emerged victorious after two gruelling nights around Premier Stadium where a big field chased the big prize.

On the opening night the likes of former champion David Clark and Paul Tindall showed the first signs of significant pace.

After a series of heats the opening night saw a pair of Silver Dollar Features.

While Britten led the first seven laps, Tyler Scot took a hard ride into the front straight wall, bringing on the reds.

When racing resumed, Victoria’s leading hope Clark took over the lead and drove away as the front of the race became a little spread out.

Clark ended up taking a comfortable win by 2.9 seconds over Britten and Gardiner.

The second feature saw Tindall slowly edge away as Pezzutti and Stephenson grafted there way into the minor positions.

On lap 12, with lapped cars ahead, Tindall tagged the front straight wall but continued.

However, this significantly reduced Tindal’s lead but the fierce full contact battle between Stephenson and Pezzutti saw the former get the show position.

As a result everything shaped up for an exciting conclusion on Saturday night with a couple of locals showing speed and contending for the national crown.

Following more heats and a B-Main won by the fast starting Zeke Edwards, the stage was set for the 35-lap final.

Britten was the favourite, having accumulated the most points, and secured the Silver Fox award ahead of Mark Robinson and Clark. Britten took the lead on the bottom ahead of McDonald but only six laps were possible before the first caution, for Edwards with a flat right rear.

Britten carried on his advantage down low and built a 2s lead as McDonald was just hanging on to second from Corbett .

A move to the high line did the job for Corbett as he snatched second.

The pace up front was too hot for Brett Clarke as he spun from sixth on lap 17.

At the restart it became three wide in the fight for second and it was Clark who made the big move as Robinson fell to fourth. Britten kept bashing away on the bottom while Clark was wide open on the top and closing.

With just seven laps to run, lapped traffic was causing Britten headaches and he even found himself side-by-side with Clark.

The final laps were suddenly an intense struggle but Britten held on to become the only six-time Aussie Champ in V8 Dirt Mods.

ON THE opening night the VMPA Modified Sedans also entertained the crowd with 24 cars participating in a 30-lap feature.

Dylan Barrow led marginally from pole ahead of Brody Christie until lap three when the the yellows flew for an errant bumper on the track in Turn 4. Due to the Delaware restart –where it is two wide except for the lead car– Barrow maintained his lead, but he could do little as Victorian champ Brad Wicks

launched a counterattack.

However, Barrow retook the lead just before a Scott Angus spin brought out the yellows and, soon after, Wicks’ assault ended complete as he pulled to the infield with a broken header pipe.

He was one of many victims across the final 15 laps where Barrow completed his drive to victory by over a second from Berkley and Thompson.

On Saturday night it was the turn of the Late Models with a 20-lap feature.

Cameron Pearson looked ominous from pole in the early stages as Barrow went low with Peter Nicola.

The first five laps ran green before Baker stopped on track and the next stoppage was not for another 10 tours due to debris.

There was drama at the front of the field after the restart as Nicola and Pearson clashed fighting for position.

The result was Nicola spinning and both drives finding themselves on the infield and out with just five laps left. This set up an exciting finish with Ben Nicastri suddenly shooting to second and making an assault on Barrow.

On the last lap Barrow bobbled coming out of Turn 2 which allowed Nicastri to snatch the lead and set up a grandstand finish.

Barrow threw it in hard into turn three and was momentarily back in the lead in Turn 4, but Nicastri’s momentum on the high line got him to the chequered flag by 0.322 seconds from Barrow.

Thomas Miles

Image: PACE IMAGES

Britten hugs the pole line en route to a record-setting win. Below: The podium.

DOWDALL EDGES AHEAD

THE FOURTH round of the 2024/25 Giltrap Group North Island Formula Ford Series was a thriller with Blake Dowdall sneaking clear.

Dowdall maintained his points lead to 12 points over Toby McCormack – the duo are well clear of the pack with just two rounds to go.

The championship leader opened his advantage by winning the first two races and setting the fastest lap.

However, McCormack was pressing him all weekend and was rewarded for effort by winning the 15-lap feature.

There were some thrilling finishes with the opening race decided by 0.020s, but only a staggering 0.007s in the second sprint.

“We came here to extend our points lead which we have done,” commented Dowdall.  “We are always chasing a clean sweep, but Toby (McCormack) got me in the end – so credit to him for his

CLASSIC ACTION

THERE WAS some extremely close racing across both days of the Ascot Park Hotel Classic SpeedFest at Teretonga Park.

In the HVRA class Gary Johnstone of Christchurch took first blood in his Jaguar XJS.

A handicap race on Sunday morning saw Mussa Russell of Taupō in a Ford Escort take the win.

Johnstone and Leon Hallett had a great battle at the front of the third race with Hallett prevailing by the barest of margins in the Mustang.

The Pre 78 Classic Saloon finale was for the Brian Crosbie Memorial Trophy and in a handicap race the spoils went to Peter Scobie of Dunedin in a Mini.

Bob Hyslop of Tauranga in his Mazda RX7 won three of the four Classic Saloon races.

But in the finale, Hyslop retired, leaving the win to Mike Baker.

Mark Barrett of Rolleston in a Lotus 23B Replica won three of the four Vintage Racing Car races with Paul Coory of Mosgiel in a CAE Sprint car taking the other.

Royce Bayer of Rangiora made a clean sweep of the Formula Ford/ Libre races in his Argo.

Muscle Cars were also on show and Angus Fogg led all the way in his Mustang but the third race was a real highlight as Mike Wallace beat Fogg by just 0.003s.

win (Race 3).

“I got a mega start in the first race.

“I was initially concerned about Marco (Manson) and Leo (Scott) but was able to get away although Toby (McCormack) put the pressure on and raced really hard.

“He was getting a really good run off the last turn so our finishes were really close.”

Both Dowdall and McCormack dropped down the field at the start of the final 15-lap feature

race and had to battle back to the top.  A Safety Car and eventual red flag for an incident saw the field bunch up again for a restart where McCormack got a late run.

“On the last lap I got a good run and got in front,” said McCormack.  “Once in the lead I essentially did a quali lap and got through for the win.”

The fifth and penultimate round takes place 21-23 March 2025 at Hampton Downs.

Thomas Miles

Saturday’s Mini 7 South race finished under Safety Car with Bailey Paterson of Ohoka leading the train of cars across the line with Justin Neill of Christchurch second as Fogg won Sunday morning’s race.

Dion Dawson of Invercargill won three of the four Noel McIntyre Drainage Club Saloon races in his

Saker SVS with his brother Kyle taking the other in his Jaguar.

The MX5 Heritage Cup ran with the Club Saloons with Dean Evans of Hamilton winning all four races.

The next race meeting at Teretonga Park is the annual Southern Thunder event over the weekend of 15/16 March.

Dowdall (6), McCormack (86) and Scott (99) show what Formula Ford is all about ... Image: GEOFF RIDDER

Angus Fogg took two Muscle Car races, but got done by 0.003s in the third by Michael Wallace. Image: GREAT SOUTH PHOTOGRAPHY

Simon

the way in the Production Touring Car enduro – but a speeding penalty cost him the win.

Report/Images:

PTC CATEGORY RUNS FIRST STATE ROUND

THE FIRST round of the NSW Motor Race Championship was held at One Raceway on February 22-23. In a series first it was successfully organised and promoted by Production Touring Cars club.

PRODUCTION TOURING CARS

BMW DRIVERS dominated the endurance race. Simon Hodges (M4 G82) finished first but received a pit speed penalty which relegated him to second behind Leigh Burges (M2 F87) and ahead of Jayson Williamson (M135i).

Tony Virag and Liam Evans (Commodore SS) and Adam Gosling (Civic Type R) were next from Christian Millett (HSV GTS) and Brent Howard (M3 F80). Track owner Steve Shelley’s return to racing reaped an 18th in the first sprint, a DNF with an engine failure in next before he joined Matt Kiss for the enduro –unfortunately with another DNF.

HQ HOLDENS

BRETT OSBORN and John Baxter were one-two in each race. They were outpointed in qualifying by Jarrod Harber who led Race 1 until a moment in the Fishhook allowed the teammates and Dave Proglio through. Harber was sidelined with a broken shifter in Race 2. Proglio took third, clear of Ashton Parker, Glenn Deering

and Mark Baxter. From the back of the Race 3 grid, Harber surged through to third from Proglio, Deering and Parker.

FORMULA CARS

POLESITTER TRENT Shirvington (Mygale M11) was the pacesetter, but Rodney Baker (Dallara) led Race 1 before Greg Muddle (Dallara) was in front. Shirvington came through to win from Nathan Beer (Dallara) and Lawrence Katsidis (Dallara) after Muddle spun. Shirvington led Race 2 throughout

from Baker and Katsidis and Andrew Fitzpatrick (Mygale F4). Shirvington was out on the first lap of Race 3 which left Baker clearly ahead of Fitzpatrick and Muddle.

FORMULA VEES

CRAIG SPARKE edged out fellow Jacer driver Darren Williams, Simon Pace (Checkmate) and Aaron Pace (Sabre) in Race 1. Williams took the second over Simon Pace, Aaron Pace and William Pym after Sparke broke down on the out lap.

Simon Pace edged out Williams in the third, well clear of Aaron Pace and Ryan Stott (Jacer).

IMPROVED PRODUCTION

ONE RACEWAY was a great equaliser between the different engine capacities. Michael Hazelton (Mazda RX7) took out the first two races. In Race 1 Kurt Macready (Nissan Silvia), Ryan Jagger (Holden Barina) and Matt Birks (Toyota Corolla) followed. Birks was second in Race 2 over Steven Engel (Mitsubishi Evo), Aaron Giuntini (Honda Civic) and Macready before the Birks pulled off a big Race 3 win over Hazelton, Macready, Giuntini and Joe Lenthall (BMW M3).

FORMULA FORDS

TABITHA AMBROSE (Spectrum) was the fastest qualifier and beat Spirit drivers Luca Guidone and Ashton Grealy. and Jason Liddell (Van Diemen) in each race.

SUPERKARTS

MARK VICKERS (Woodgate) was the winner of the first race and second to Joaquim Dos Santo (BRM) in the next. The latter won the third from Tony Moit (Woodgate) and Vickers. Laurence Fooks (Raider) led the first two races until retirement. He missed the third before a clear victory in the last over Vickers, Moit and Santos.

Hodges shows

Vees: Simon Pace and Darren Williams battle it out ...

Matt Hazelton took the first two Imp Prod races, but it got closer after that, with Matt Birks winniing the finale.

Want

RACING IN THE WEST

THE 2025 WA Sporting Car Club circuit racing season kicked off with 12 hours of intense action at CARCO. com.au Raceway for the Night CARCO Night Masters Cup.

FORMULA CLASSIC

LANCE CARWARDINE proved unstoppable in the Formula Classic category, guiding his Jane Brabham BT23 to victory with a 70-point haul.

James Hagan battled hard in his Van Dieman FF to secure second after a tight battle with Ricky Virago.

FORMULA VEE

PAUL MOLTONI kicked off his season in dominant fashion, taking top honours in the 1600cc Formula Vee class with 70 points.

The Jacer 99 driver set the pace early and was consistent all weekend.

Mason Legg provided a formidable challenge, particularly in Race 2, where he was the first to take the chequered flag.

Legg finished the round in second overall, while Kathy and Rod Lisson were in a close on-track tango, but in the end, the former ended up on top.

In the 1200cc class, Danny Cerro was seemingly untouchable, securing a perfect 75 points with a clean sweep of victories.

FSR

CHRIS REINDLER was the class of the FSR field, taking a dominant clean sweep in all three races.

Bryce Moore kept the pressure on Reindler, delivering three podium finishes as Ruairidh Avern impressed on his FSR debut.

HISTORIC TOURING CARS

IT WAS an event of attrition for the Historic Touring Cars field, with half the field falling prey to mechanical and on-track dramas.

A fierce Mustang duel headlined the category, with Brian Edhouse the Race 1 winner.

Peter Pisconeri was hot on Edhouse’s tail in the first two races,

but an unfortunate on-track incident halted his campaign in Race 3.

It was Cono Onofaro who took outright second for the round in his agile Morris Cooper S with Simon Northey in the BMW 2002 TI securing third.

EXCEL CUP

THE EXCEL Cup was a nail-biter with the lead between Brett Sherriff and Carlos Ambrosio changing multiple times.

Sherriff took the overall victory with 70 points with Ambrosio forced to settle for second five points adrift. Young gun Zane Rhodes was consistently nipping at the heels of the frontrunners and secured third.

HQ HOLDENS

MICHAEL HOWLETT’S season was off to the perfect start, topping the timesheets across all events in the HQ Holden category.

Mick Woodbridge’s consistent performances earned him second while Grant Ord rounded out the podium with 54 points.

The father-son duo of Dave and Troy Kent brought additional excitement to the grid, with Dave making his circuit racing debut at 64 years old after switching codes from speedway.

PRODUCTION CAR, IMPROVED PRODUCTION, AND STREET CARS

IN PRODUCTION Cars, James Gellan’s Mitsubishi Evo IX emerged victorious, holding off Damien Croxon’s Renault Megane RS265

and Brent Peters’ BMW M3 in close battles throughout the event.

Matt Cherry dominated the Improved Production Car field in his Holden Monaro CV8, sweeping all three races ahead of Jack Clohessy and Nik Mitic.

Peter Callo was the standout performer in Street Cars, piloting his Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R to a trio of victories.

SALOON CARS

IN THE Holden versus Ford battle, it was Ford fans in the 3K PRO Saloon category who had the bragging rights during the season opener.

Mason Harvey set the pace early in his Ford Falcon AU, securing pole position and converting that qualifying speed into three commanding race victories.

Fellow Falcon AU drivers, Jackson Callo and Rob Marcon were trading positions before being best of the rest.

The PRO-AM class gave the Holden fans plenty to cheer about, with Adam Koberstein (Holden Commodore VP) taking three wins from three starts.

Craig James (Holden Commodore VN) and Reginald Ralph (Holden Commodore VP) were on each other’s heels in close competition for second and third.

The WASCC Club Championship continues on Saturday, 12 April.

Lauren Cornes

Brian Edhouse’s Mustang (here heading Cono Onofaro’s Mini) took the Historic Touring Car points. Below: Paul Moltoni was the man to beat in Formula Vee. Bottom: Lights on as Brett Sherriff heads the Excel contest. Images: MARK MEDLOCK

SOARING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

HOT AND windy conditions tested out man and machine for the opening round of the South Australian Motor Racing Championship at Mallala on February 21-22, AA’s DAVID BATCHELOR was nearly blown away by the action.

HYUNDAI EXCEL

The battle in Circuit Excel Trophy was for who would stand on the bottom two steps of the podium as Joel Johnson dominated. Johnson controlled the racing at the front to take the round win and won all three races.

Andrew Hobby worked hard for P2 with Aaron Oliver and Braiden Colwill piling on the pressure while Oliver narrowly defeated Colwill for P3 overall.

In Excel Masters Brain Smith overcame relentless challenges from Vaughan Colwill to take the win with Misch Nowickyj picking up third. Robert Zoanetti seemed destined for outright third but was let down by a DNF in race two.

IMPROVED PRODUCTION

Despite a glitch in qualifying that had him starting from the back in race one Andy Sarandis (Mitsubishi Evo 8) dominated Improved Production.

Defending champion Jason Lee (BMW E30) was comfortably next best well clear of Andrew Cogan (BMW M3).

Ian Statham’s chances of a good result got off to a bad start with a race one DNF but he out paced Cogan in the remaining two races.

FORMULA VEE

Daniel Westcott (Jacer F2K5) took a closely fought 1600 Formula Vee victory with Luke Maeder (Elfin Crusader) edging out Matthew

Balek (Stinger 03) for second.

Nathan Clifton (Jacer F2K) had some problems that kept him off the pace which saw him fail to finish the first race.

Baxter Midwinter (Panther 1A) had Frank Chessell (Elfin Crusader) constantly in his mirrors but he didn’t crack under the pressure claiming the1200 Formula Vee win.

Julian Midwinter (RG Devil) had an easy and at times lonely path to P3.

SUPER SPORTS

Simon Gardiner (Norma M20) was in total control of Super Sports. His nearest competitor was Tim Cook (Wolf GB08CN) who was a distant second after a poor showing in Race 1. As a result he only just out scored third placed Philip Andrawos (Wolf GB08).

Bo Jenson (Dallara F304) and Sam Milton (Wolf GB08) both looked set for spots on the podium but failed to finish all the races.

AUSSIE RACING CARS

Jack Boyd (ARC Mercedes) made a clean sweep of wins in Aussie Racing Cars to bring home the big trophy.

Shane Mann (ARC Mustang) top qualified but could only manage second at the end of the day. Dean Michalik (ARC Nissan) was a distant third with Victorian Nathan Barbers (ARC Toyota) late charge not enough to grab the spot.

HOLDEN HQ

It was the Darren Jenkins show in HQs being far too good in the races. While Nathan Roberts had been on top in qualifying he wasn’t able to seriously challenge Jenkins in the races. Corey Bradley withstood a late charge from Lee Smith for third. David Batchelor

Darren Jenkins dominated in HQs, as did Jack Boyd in Aussie Race Cars (top). Above left: Similarly, Andy Sarandis was on topin Improved Production with his Mitsubishi Evo 8. Above right: It was closer in the Formula Vee contest, with Daniel Westacott taking the top spot. Images: DAVID BATCHELOR

Want

STARTING STRONGLY

IT WAS A BUSY WEEKEND AT PHILLIP ISLAND WITH THE USUAL PIARC FAVOURITES BEING JOINED BY SOME NATIONAL CATEGORIES. THOMAS MILES REPORTS …

TOYOTA GAZOO RACING

AUSTRALIA SCHOLARSHIP SERIES

JORDAN FREESTONE has left his mark on the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia Scholarship Series by winning the opener.

Freestone took control by bookending the weekend with wins to be the overwhelming winner in the #8 Sieders Racing Team machine.

It was a tight fight for pole as Jack Szewczuk beat Wil Longmore by just 0.0483s, while Freestone was third.

However, he made a fast start to shoot to the lead early and did not look back.

This created an interesting fight for second where Charlie Parker sprung a surprise, flying from as low as seventh to second.

Parker did it by passing Kade Davey with two laps to go as Wil Longmore crossed the line third, but was penalised to eighth, while five drivers did not make it home.

The race was punctured by a big crash at Miller Corner where Romeo Nasr was left with significant front end damage after a big crunch.

Parker carried on his momentum by hitting the lead on the opening lap of Race 2, but this time he drifted as the race went on, slumping to fourth.

One of the drivers on the move was Zane Rinaldi as he took the lead on lap two and took a commanding 2s win.

Freestone also impressed, going from fifth to second and winning an intense fight with Longmore that went down the final lap.

The last race proved to be the emphatic statement from Freestone as he dominated the eight-lap affair. He was the only driver to control a sprint from start to finish, never being headed, to win by a second.

Rinaldi won a fierce fight for second that was not decided until the final lap as he fended off Alice Buckley, who

had a strong race, fighting in the top three all day.

Freestone walks away with a 24-point advantage over Rinaldi.

RX8 CUP

THE RX8 CUP returned and it was all one-way traffic with Stiaan Kriel enjoying a perfect start.

Despite not racing at all last year, Kriel adjusted perfectly to the onemake competition by dominating the regulars.

The #83 won all our races to walk away with a full haul of 120 points.

All three races followed a similar tale with Kriel, Jett Blumeris and reigning champion Robert Scott locking out the podium places.

Jackson Noakes also cemented himself in fourth, while Aaron Hills won a close battle for fifth overall despite a race two retirement.

RX8 Cup returns at Winton on May 9-11.

PIARC ACCESS

THE REGULAR SuperKarts and SuperSprint was on show at Phillip Island to make it a full meeting.

A total of 39 cars of a large variety took part in the SuperSprint where the fastest time was set by an un-named driver in a Elfin Formula Junior with a 1:32.5470.

Geoffrey Lawrence, William West, Lachlan Jay (Gearbox) Matin Anderson, Alan Dodge (Max Heavy) Russ Occhipinti (Max Light) Rod Clarke, Brendan Kloot, (Max Superheavy) Jeff Duckworth (Stock Honda) Nicholas Schembri (250 International) were the Superkart winners. Thomas Miles

A full Toyota Scholarship grid ready to go –but (right) it didn’t go well for everyone ... Top right: Stiaan Kriel dominated the RX8 contest.

Images: REBECCA HIND/REVVED PHOTOGRAPHY

SUPER START

THE RACING SEASON IS IN FULL SWING WITH THE HI-TEC SUPER SERIES KICKING OFF IN FINE STYLE AT WINTON MOTOR RACEWAY WHERE A NUMBER OF DRIVERS WERE ON THE PACE IN A NUMBER OF CATEGORIES… AUTO

ACTION’S

THOMAS MILES REPORTS

TA2 MUSCLE CARS

YOUNG GUN Jarrod Hughes continued his fine record each time he jumps behind the wheel in the TA2 Muscle Car Series.

Hughes was on fire in the #118 AC Delco Camaro, taking three wins out of four, and only just falling short of a perfect round.

He looked set for a four-race sweep until something broke in the front of the car and forced him to limp to the finish line. He lost the lead on the penultimate lap to Ben Gomersall.

Gomersall had been best-of-the-rest throughout the weekend

Josh Webster followed them home for third in the opening race ahead of Brad Gartner, while Tom Davies was in the fight until a fuel line fitting broke and caused a fire in the engine bay.

Diesel Thomas had speared off at the opening corner and into retirement.

The fight for third also got dramatic in the second race.

Josh Webster was attacking Brad Gartner for third on the final lap, but suffered a mechanical failure and finished fifth behind Josh Thomas.

The start of the final race was dramatic with many cars spearing off the road

The fight for third also got ugly as Webster had made his way into third –however an unforced error on the final lap saw him spin off into the gravel trap at Turn 7, and he was out of the race.

Gartner inherited third and beat a hard-charging Diesel Thomas, while speedway legend Robbie Farr rounded out the top five.

FORMULA FORD

A NEW era started with the Formula Ford Stars and Renegades Series joining the program and Kobi Williams was the first breakout star.

However, the driver with the one-lap pace was Joe Fawcett, who took a sweep of poles.

The opening race was worthy of the occasion as Williams and Fawcett put on a special fight for the lead.

Williams had the jump and led the early stages despite a fierce challenge at the opening corner.

Many drivers went off at Turn 5 with Caleb Balek the most affected,

stopping on track and creating a Safety Car , while Giuseppe Imbrogno did the same but retired in the pits.

When racing resumed, so did the fight for the lead, which went all the way down to the bitter end as Williams beat Fawcett by just a tenth.

Williams went back-to-back but only after an impressive drive where he held off not only challenges from Fawcett, but also Jamie Rowe.

Off the line, Lachlan Evennett made the best jump, but was boxed in and speared off at Turn 5.

It did not take long for Fawcett to take control before Rowe hit back and led before a Tabitha Ambrose ‘off’ brought out the Safety Car.

Marcos Ambrose Motorsport team-mate Brad James also suffered drama where he collided with Ethan Fitzgerald and was sent flying.

At the restart, Fawcett snatched the lead from Rowe, only to throw it away with five minutes to go and gift Williams back-to-back glory.

The battle between Williams and Fawcett resumed hostilities on Sunday.

Williams held sway into Turn 1, but

Fawcett hit back as early as lap two. It was not until lap 10 when Williams made his race-winning move and he took a hat-trick by three-tenths.

The most dramatic moment saw Fraser Hie and Lachlan Evennett clash in the fight for sixth and lock wheels, while Ambrose suffered a mechanical issue.

Williams’ pursuit of a quartet was denied by Fawcett as he finally had his moment in the sun.

Fawcett chose his moment to attack athlete start of lap four with a calculated move at the opening corner. Although Williams kept the pressure on, he could not make a move as Fawcett won by three-tenths, while Jamie Rowe continued his run of podiums in third

LEGEND CARS AUSTRALIA

DESPITE RYAN Pring controlling the majority of the opening day of Legend Cars Australia action, it was Robert Hogan who emerged on top.

Hogan won Race 1 by just over a second from Pring.

A repeat result appeared destined in

Hughes leads a crowded TA2 pack ... Right (top): Robert Hogan shows the way in Legends. Right lower: the second Innovation race got heavy – ask Geoff Emery ... Images: NEIL HAMMOND

Race 2, only for Hogan to suddenly lose a tonne of speed in the closing stages.

This allowed Pring to take the win ahead of Dylan Thomas as Hogan dropped down to fifth with a broken shifter.

As a result Hogan had a big task ahead if he wanted to snatch the round and he did just that. He took a hat-trick of wins on Sunday, which was enough to steal the round by three points.

The Race 2 victory was particularly impressive given he soared from ninth on the grid, while Pring offered a big fight in the final race.

INNOVATION RACE CARS

GEOFF EMERY started strongly in Innovation Race Cars as he stormed away from pole to a 3s win.

Geoff Taunton started strong to snare second from Danny Stutterd late in the piece.

Whilst the opener was calm, the second was not as Emery bogged it down off the start and was hit by Stutterd hard.

Whilst the impact took out Stutterd, Emery limped home to sixth.

Taking advantage of the carnage was Taunton as he cruised to a 4.1s win.

John Goodacre became the third different winner in as many races – he simply stayed out of trouble while those around him knocked

themselves and each other out of contention.

Stutterd led early after a battle with Emery, but that ended in tears with several points of contact resulting in the former getting a shredded right rear tyre and the latter losing his bonnet.

Emery carried on, but was eventually disqualified – for racing without a bonnet!

Taunton started from the back and charged all the way to second.

This hard work paid off in the final race as Taunton took a crushing 10s win over Goodacre.

Emery found more trouble, but this time he was the innocent party as he was wiped out by a spinning Currie.

AUSSIE TIN TOPS

DESPITE NOT having the fastest car, Mark Tracey emerged on top following the opening day of Aussie Tin Tops.

Matt Sims in his BMW E36 was flying, but an unforced error at Turn 6 saw him lose the rear and spin. He tried to fight back but could not make enough inroads.

Race 2 saw Tracey lead Sims, but the race was called off early after Merrick Malouf suffered a brake failure and slammed into the wall at Turn 3 –fortunately the driver was unharmed.

Race 3 was worth the wait as Tracey and Sims had a fierce fight for victory.

Sims looked to have had it won, only for the slow-moving Wayne Always to suffer a diff failure in his Mazda RX-7 and leave oil all over the track at Turn 11.

First onto the scene on the final lap was Sims, who slid off, which presented the perfect gift to Tracey.

Sims rejoin second ahead of Edwards, who did not start the final race due to a power steering failure.

The BMW battle resumed in the final race where Sims won it on-track.

However, he lost the win due to a 5s penalty for a starting infringement.

He did his best to pull a big enough gap, but kept catching lapped traffic at the wrong times and had to settle for second behind Tracey.

Sims was again the bridesmaid, from Joshua Robins.

AUSTRALIAN DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

THE AUSTRALIAN Drivers Championship returned for its second season racing with Hyper Racers and it produced a thrilling fight for round honours that needed a count-back to be decide it.

The opening race was a hard fought affair with little separating the top three throughout.

In the end, reigning champion Damon Sterling took the win by 0.6s over Hayden Crossland as Dean Crooke was not far away.

A busy Sunday lay ahead with three races on the card.

Sterling went back-to-back after fending off an early challenge from Crossland, who faded late.

Crooke fell out of podium contention due to a first lap spin, allowing Niko French to steal third.

In the penultimate race, Crossland was able to take the fight to Sterling.

The pair had a great exchange and a bold move at the opening corner sealed the deal.

Despite a mid-race Safety Car Crossland pulled away to take the win ahead of Sterling.

Stasi sat third for the majority of the day, only for Crooke to make a lastminute challenge.

The pair then pulled off a drag race to the line where Stasi held on by just 0.05s.

The final race was a clean affair as Crossland went back-to-back ahead of Sterling, while Crooke jumped Stasi for third early on.

Incredibly this meant both Crossland and Sterling ended the weekend level on 90 points with the former taking the round after winning the last two races.

The Hi-Tec Oils Super Series returns at Sydney Motorsport Park on May 30-June 1.

Williams and Fawcett dispute the Formula Ford lead. Above (from top): Hayden Crossland took out a Hyper double; Goodacre leads Taunton in Innovation; Mark Tracey shows the way in Aussie Tin Tops.

FOUR FROM FOUR IN V8 SUPERUTES

THE OPENING round of the V8 SuperUtes proved a varied affair at the Sydney 500, with four big winners from four races at SMP.

It was also an emotional round for the category as it honoured one of its much-loved behind-the-scenes stalwarts, Kevin Culley, who passed away in December, with plenty of heartfelt tributes observed, including a tribute lap led by Dave Casey in the #782 Mitsubishi Triton.

There was also the series debut of Paul “‘he Dude’ Morris, with the Norwell coach taking on his first fulltime racing season since 2017, where he would scoop a couple of top-10s in a solid start.

The new year would also begin under a new recently appointed management structure, with 16 team owners collectively taking a majority share in the series, whilst key management personnel were also officially appointed.

The 2025 season also resumed with a new defending champion behind

the wheel for the first time since 2022, with Team Motion Racing’s Adam Marjoram in the #1 Isuzu D-MAX having un-seeded back-toback title holder Aaron Borg.

But it was Borg in his own D-MAX who opened up the 2025 year, whilst Triton and Mazda drivers Jayden Wanzek, and David Sieders, respectively, also took wins, before Marjoram took one of his own in a tight one.

Of those four winners, however, hometown racer Sieders scooped the points to be the early championship leader over the defending champ, followed by Hilux driver Cody Brewczynski.

“I’ve got a load of goodies – round win, race win, and pole position, all at the home track. The boys put in an awesome effort, and I can’t thank them enough,” the #3 BT-50 driver said.

“The car wasn’t the best in race trim, and we’ve got some stuff to work on. But we were the quickest in

qualifying, so watch out for the rest of the year.”

And whilst he topped Borg by 0.140 for pole, it didn’t translate in the opener, as the former two-time champ stormed home by just under two seconds over Marjoram in a battle of the Isuzus, with Sieders taking third in the first of his weekend podium sweep.

Borg led every lap after taking the lead early with a 23-strong field offering a solid and stoppage-free hit out on the Friday to kick off the nationwide year.

Saturday’s Race 2 saw a reverse grid start, with Adrian Cottrell on pole in the #41 Holden Colorado, but it was 2024 Rookie of the Year in Wanzek who added a second victory to his career tally.

After taking the lead early, Wanzek also navigated a restart, opening up a comfortable lead to overcome Brewczynski by 3.811 seconds, who had a close battle over that remaining eight minutes in an effort

to pass Sieders, doing so in the final stages.

To finish off the Saturday, the customary rough-and-tumble nature of the V8 Utes came to the fore in Race 3 with good side-by-side action, as Sieders went two better to claim his first win since 2023.

The Blacktown native took it from start to finish, but had pressure from Borg early before the D-MAX driver had an oil line let go, edging into the pits during the fourth lap.

As a result, that allowed Brewczynski to make it a double of P2s on the day, whilst Marjoram inherited third.

The Sunday finale then had Marjoram getting it done after taking the early lead from the second row, but would then have to survive a one-lap dash following a Safety Car, hitting the line over Brewczynski and Sieders.

Next up is the Tasmania Super 440 at Symmons Plains Raceway, May 9-11. TW Neal

Jayden Wanzek, heading for a win, leads David Sieders in a strong Utes field ...

JONES CRUSHES CARRERA CUP OPENER

FORMER MOBIL1 Supercup driver

Harri Jones has indicated that the hunt is very much on for a third Porsche Carrera Cup Australia title, taking his Jones Motorsport 911 to crushing three-race sweep at the SMP’s Sydney 500.

Whilst Jones provided the more immediate throwback, 227-race Carrera veteran and Calder Raceway owner Rodney Jane wound back the clock with the ProAm class round win (his first since 2008), and in the Michelin Junior stakes, Groove Racing youngster Oscar Targett took the round on debut along with, impressively, fourth in the outright.

Having won the 2022 and 2024 titles, Jones’ early championship lead ahead of the AGP was set up in qualifying – allowing him the vital clean air on a rough SMP surface – when he outpointed EMA Motorsport young gun Bayley Hall, who would eventually take second outright over regular contender

Dylan O’Keefe.

No other driver would come between those four when it came to podium spots, with Targett impressively taking out a high of P2 in the 26 lap enduro.

But no one really came near Jones, with a five second penalty in Race 3 not even enough to deny him the sweep.

Adding to the effort, with the recent and sudden closure of his former team – the Porsche Centre Melbourne team – in January, Jones had also hastily assembled his own team in just six weeks.

“After the past month this is the best reward for myself and the team with all the effort just to put it all together,” Jones said.

“Made things hard for Race 3 with that penalty – which I deserved – but I had to put in 10 qualifying laps, which if you’ve got the car for it, makes that possible. Hopefully this sets the tone for a really good season.”

After topping Hall with a 1:29.430s (0.174s), over Targett and O’Keeffe, Jones then delivered his familyoperated team its maiden Carrera Cup win in Race 1, his 18th overall in the one-make series.

In taking the win, he bettered Hall by 4.784 seconds at the chequered flag, in a race that was interrupted early with some down the field Pro Am mayhem off the line involving Sam Shahin and Adrian Flack.

That opened the door for Pro Am rookie Jacque Jarjo of DNA Autosport to take a class win on debut whilst, in the Pro, O’Keeffe would overcome Targett to open his year with a podium.

With two races on Sunday, the 45 minute morning Enduro saw a crushing win from Jones – 17 seconds at the line – in a lights-toflag romp.

With Hall running second until the midway point, a costly lockup allowed Targett to pounce in the EBM Cup Car, and then spent

the remainder of the race fending off the experienced O’Keeffe, with some very consistent race craft shown by the young Queenslander.

Behind O’Keeffe was another impressive performance, with young Kiwi Marco Giltrap taking the first of two P5s for the day, racing for Team Porsche New Zealand.

The Race 3 finale was a matter of battling tyre life, with the 13-lap sprint falling to Jones by 2.181s, and Hall fighting back for his second P2 of the weekend, over O’Keefe.

Hall initially got the better of Jones at the green light, leading into the first corner, but losing it by the sixth, with the top three comfortably heading home over Targett and Giltrap, whilst Jane’s P4 was enough to give him the rare and long-awaited Am round win.

Next up for the Carrera Cup Australia field is the Australian Grand Prix round on March 13-16. TW Neal

Jones, Jones and more Jones ... Harri, here leading Bayley Hall and Oscar Targett, swept the field.

TCM EXPRESS LIGHTS UP SMP

THE FIRST round of a big year for the Gulf Western Oils Touring Car Masters featuring a Supercars-heavy calendar, went off with a bang, with four entertaining races affirming that the V8 classics will be hit across the 2025 season.

With Duggan Family Hotels (DFH) taking the head sponsorship duties for the opener, a great looking field that was hitting 250kph down Brabham Straight at the Sydney 500 enjoyed largely green light runs, as the Bob Middleton Built Whiteline Chevrolet Camaro RS showed its intimidating power over the nimbler Toranas to take the round win.

Steered by former Aussie Racing Cars champion Joel Heinrich, the #95 Daimler Trucks machine had a dominant Sunday with a sweep of the final two races, whilst the Weekend’s Race 1 pole getter Andrew Fisher took

first championship blood in Race 1 in the Jesus Racing Torana SLR5000.

But in another highlight, not only was DFH acting as head sponsor, but its newly purchased charger – the VB Commodore that Adam Garwood took to the ’24 title – took out the Trophy Race win with a famous name behind the wheel.

20 year-old Jude Bargwanna was steering the Carlton United Breweries sponsored VB and the injection of youth into the field proved a hit, with the son of Scott and nephew of Jason throwing it up on debut.

As for Heinrich, the SA driver who delivered that same kind of needed vitality in 2024, shared his thoughts on

the weekend with Auto Action from the SMP garage.

“I am pumped with that … super stoked to get the round win. Last year we were here battling for fifth and sixth, and coming here again we were worried we would be a bit behind the eight ball,” he said.

‘“But made some changes to the car at the back end of last year, which really brought it to life.

“One of the biggest focuses was trying to keep the rear tyres underneath it the best we could, and manage them through the race. Saturday was quite hot in the evening race and, on Sunday, with all the UV, it just fell off a cliff mid-race, but everyone was in the same boat.

“But It was good to have some clean racing with the guys. We were fast in Race 2, and In the final race it was about managing the tyres.

Joel Heinrich took the points with a pair of wins on Sunday. Below: Torana duel – Hansford and Buzadzic. Images: DMAC, JAMES SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY

“It was unfortunate Fisher and Hansford got together, but it gave us a bit of a get-out-of-jail card,” he said, referring to an entertaining Torana battle in the finale.

In all, a field of 17 muscle cars ranging from Torana’s, Camaros, a Valiant, a Chevy Monza, Falcons and Mustangs took to SMP for the first of seven rounds.

After the DFH garage of Scott Cameron (Camaro SS) and Bargwanna set the pace in Friday’s Practice, a short window Qualifying session went the way of the Jesus Torana with a 1:38.305s, 0.196s over Heinrich, while the DFH machines took the second row.

Saturday’s Trophy Race was arguably the most entertaining race of the weekend and, despite it being nine laps and 10 points to finish across the board, the sheep

stations were up for grabs.

The race came down to a battle between the A9X of Danny Buzadzic, and Bargwanna, who had chewed through the field to make it a contest, with a great side-by-side last lap stoush ending in 0.490s win on debut.

Later in the afternoon, despite Fisher entering the proper season opener under a clutch cloud, the New South Welshman wouldn’t be denied a first series win since 2023, as his fresh Hankook rubber fared well over Heinrich.

Heinrich had the better rolling start but couldn’t hold on through the corners, whilst there was a great battle between the Jamie Tilley Mustang Coupe, the Zukanovic XD, Cam Tilley’s Valiant, and the two DFH machines.

Young Bargwanna won that battle to take a maiden TCM race podium, whilst Fisher found the necessary 0.657s to take the opener.

A shortened Race 2 on Sunday saw Heinrich’s SS power too much for the Jesus Torana, with Bargwanna also backing up with a strong second place.

The race was marred however with a big crash into the tyre barrier at the old drag-way exit road when Zukanovic couldn’t get the XD turned, with the Falcon looking very rough, whilst Zukanovic walked away after a big shunt.

The finale proved thankfully green, with Heinrich blasting away to seal the

round win, whilst a late Turn 2 battle of the Ryan Hansford/Fisher Torana’s saw the latter come unstuck in his bid to chase Heinrich for round honours.

Bargwanna also denied himself a podium sweep at the death, allowing the fan-favourite Valiant to take a deserved podium after needing a push-start to get on the grid, as well as the Pro-Sport Class win, whilst Peter Burnitt took the Pro-Am class in the #12 A9X.

Having taken the round overall, Heinrich also commented on his aspirations for the rest of this season.

“We are definitely going in the right direction with this car. We have a really good package under us, so excited to see what the year can bring,” he added.

“The title is always the goal, but anything can happen and we will take

each round as it comes.

“I am starting to understand a bit more about what the car wants now, and we can better identify any change needed. We went a bit out of the window last year, but having the better understanding has definitely helped.”

The next round sees the TCM train head for Symmons Plains for another Supercars outing on May 9-11 after a bit of a break, with the winning Camaro likely to be a big threat once more on the Tassie straights.

TW Neal

Bargwanna shows the way to Andrew Fisher. Top: Fisher finished second on points to Heinrich afgter a solid weekend. Above: Fisher again, but this time on the wrong end of some attention from Hansford ...

OPEN SEASON

THE OPENING ROUND OF A NEW-LOOK SUPER2 SEASON MIGHT HAVE BEEN MINUS THE USUAL DRAMA, BUT WAS FULL OF QUALITY RACING WITH A MIXED-UP FIELD PRODUCING SOME UNEXPECTED WINNERS. THOMAS MILES REPORTS …

A FRESH field started a new era for the Dunlop Series, which only featured Commodores and Mustangs, with Super3 no more.

As a result, it was anyone’s guess who would front the field and two days brought about two extremely contrasting sets of results.

At the end of it all a surprise winner stood on the top step of the podium in the shape of Eggleston Motorsport veteran Jordyn Sinni.

The breakthrough success comes at the start of Sinni’s third Super2 season and few would have picked the 22-year-old as a contender given he had a previous best finish of sixth.

A seventh-place finish in the opener was just enough to edge ahead of Saturday winner Cameron McLeod in the race for round honours.

Sinni has described the win as “a dream” and admitted it has smashed

his own expectations.

“To be honest, not at all,” Sinni said when asked if he anticipated victory.

“I think we were doing ok yesterday in seventh – we set the bar at maybe a top five, but to qualify second, on the front row with my team-mate was awesome, and then to seal it with a win is a dream come true.

“It’s awesome – I don’t think I’ve ever been higher than sixth or seventh in the championship, so to go to Tassie with the orange numbers on the car is going to be pretty cool.”

RACE 1

SATURDAY WAS all about the McLeod family as history repeated in a rather special way.

Buoyed by his new team, Kelly Racing, Cameron McLeod was untouchable on Saturday, kicking off the season by converting his maiden

Super2 pole into a maiden race victory. However, it was far more impactful than just that.

McLeod went from last to first in the closing stages of Race 1 qualifying by posting a 1:31.8086s to squeeze ahead of the top four also featuring Ayrton Hobson, Ryan Gray and Jobe Stewart, split by just 0.04s.

It was fitting McLeod’s first Super2 pole arrived at his Sydney Motorsport Park debut, given that was exactly what his father Ryan did 25 years ago.

Ryan McLeod drove a Kmart Racing Holden VS Commodore to the first ever Super2 pole at the track, then labelled Eastern Creek, stopping the clock at 1:33.3287s.

Ryan McLeod went on to take victory in Race 2 and, half a century later, his son Cameron enjoyed similar success.

The #92 Zebra Mustang was untouchable, dominating the opening

race and never being threatened on his way to a comfortable 9s win.

“It is cool and feels like it was meant to be,” McLeod told Auto Action

“The Kelly Racing car was bang on out of the box and I have been happy every session I have been in it. One of the best Supercars I have driven.

“It is Lee Holdsworth’s old car and he has been helping me out a bit about a few corners and those little things – it played a big part.”

Whilst the race was clean, there was drama before the lights went out as Triple Eight debutant Jackson Walls got a touch over-excited and jumped the start.

As a result he surged from sixth to third on track bu,t despite crossing the line fourth, the obvious 15s penalty saw him fall down to 10th.

One driver who could not get a decent launch off the line was Hobson.

Persistence pays – Jordyn Sinni taking a deserved first win, here leading Cody Burcher, who put it all on the line (right). Opposite top: Cam McLeod replicated family history ... Images: PETER NORTON-EPIC SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY, DMAC PHOTOGRAPHY

After the Kiwi rookie stunned all in qualifying, he could not fire up the Anderson Motorsport Mustang and slipped from second to eighth.

Stewart did light it up and settled into second ahead of Walls and Gray.

Another driver who was struggling was reigning champion Zach Bates, falling to ninth as he battled grip issues in his first drive for Eggleston Motorsport.

He found himself in a willing battle with Triple Eight debutant Ben Gomersall, while Hughes, Burcher and Dalton also put on a show for 10th, eventually won by the Tickford racer, who ended up making some late moves to salvage eighth.

With McLeod in the distance, Stewart had a tough time keeping Walls and Gray behind him.

Even though the Tickford youngster picked off the penalised Triple Eight driver, the Image Racing steerer held on by threetenths.

Nash Morris just missed out on a podium in his return with Hobson fighting back to get into the top five on debut.

RACE 2

EGGLESTON MOTORSPORT hit back on Sunday, but some less familiar faces spearheaded the assault.

Whilst Sinni eventually emerged on top, it was rookie Cody Burcher, who won an almighty scrap for pole position.

After the lead changed hands 11 times across the 20 minute session, the Super3 champion’s 1:31.6540s was the benchmark as Sinni ensured it was an all-Eggleston front row.

Meanwhile, McLeod could only manage 10th, while other speedy Saturday stars Stewart and Hodson were done in 19th and 20th.

The race was effectively decided by Sinni’s bravery off the line.

The Eggleston teammates ran sideby-side into Turn 1 and it was Sinni, who prevailed by flying around the outside of Burcher.

Behind the battling Commodores, Brad Vaughan was determined to bounce back from a tough opening day and he flew from sixth to third as the Triple Eight teammates banged doors.

By the time the field arrived at Turn 3,

the front-runners had settled, but the mid-pack had not and Dalton speared off at Turn 3 after a whack from teammate Morris.

A lot of willing door-to-door racing throughout the first lap exploded at the final corner where Hughes and Tomsett spun.

Following the dramatic first lap, things finally quietened down slightly despite Gillis having a wild moment through Turn 1.

Bailey Sweeny was the first victim of the race on lap four, pulling off to the 1996 short track with gearbox issues.

The most entertaining battle on the track was all the way down in 17th.

Geoghegan and Logan had a close call running down pit straight, with the Image Racing rookie pushing the WAU driver all the way to the grass in similar style to Schumacher and Barrichello at Hungary 2010 before being side-byside for five corners.

But it was actually Hobson, who was the big winner, passing them both when they returned to the main straight squabbling.

On lap 16 Logan finally got past Geoghegan when the Image Racing

rookie made a mistake at Turn 6.

Further up the front of the field McLeod and Gray rubbed panels for eighth.

The Tickford driver initially held sway by pouncing on a mistake at the hairpin from his rival, only to lose out at the final turn.

They were side-by-side again a lap later down the main straight and neither wanted to give in during a game of chicken at the fast Turn 1 where the Kelly Racing driver prevailed with a ballsy and committed move around the outside – which was not quite enough for the round win.

Whilst Sinni was in control, all eyes were on his team-mate Burcher, who had Vaughan breathing down his neck for the entire race.

It was not until with two minutes left Vaughan finally made his move at Corporate Hill and it was successful. This brought the Eggleston Motorsport driver into the clutches of Gomersall, who even got a rear wheel in the dirt approaching Turn 4.

The mistake did not faze him as he launched a successful attack at the next visit to Corporate Hill to steal the podium spot for both the race and the round.

The skirmishes ensured Sinni enjoyed a comfortable drive to a breakthrough race and round win by 3s.

Super2 returns to Symmons Plains for the first time since 2018 on May 9-11

SUPER2 ROUND 1 RESULTS

1: Jordyn Sinni 246 points

2: Cameron McLeod 240

3: Ben Gomersall 231

4: Rylan Gray 213 5: Jobe Stewart 201

McLeod leads Jobe Stewart and the pack into Turn 1 ...

PATENT IT!

WHATEVER THE INGREDIENTS WERE, THE OPENING BLOWS IN THE 2025 REPCO SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP, AT SYDNEY MOTORSPORT PARK (FEBRUARY 21-23) PROVIDED A FABULOUS LAUNCH – INCLUDING THE BEST RACE FINISH FOR DECADES. THOMAS MILES WAS THERE …

FRIDAY

– BEWARE THE MONSTER

HE FIRST ever Friday night Supercars opener in Australia was all about Cameron Waters and the green-eyed Monster.

Waters turned the opening day of the season into a procession, dominating from start to finish as teams evaluated three new Dunlop rubber in a race for the first time.

The green-eyed Monster ate the field alive, winning the 26-lap sprint by a whopping 16s.

Having taken pole by the stable margin of 0.25s, Waters was never challenged throughout the opening sprint of the season. To give the team extra reason to celebrate, team-mate Thomas Randle also pulled off a lastlap pass, on Matt Payne, to steal third and ensure two Tickford Mustangs were on the podium in a massive sign of intent.

Neither Waters or Tickford have ever started a year so strongly. While Waters won the first race of Gen3 in 2023, it was a retrospective and hollow success due to the

Triple Eight disqualifications.

The only other time Tickford has won a race at the opening round was 2012, in Adelaide, when Will Davison was on fire. But this time, Waters’ performance was on another level.

The #6 charger was blown away by his rocketship, being a massive contrast to recent season openers where wheels fell off or power steering issues robbed him of success.

“Last year I had wheels falling off and I was feeling crook, so that was pretty bad,” Waters said. “It is awesome to start the championship like that and massive thank you to the whole team. Great to get the first win.

“It is just one race, but it is great to have fast cars tonight and for Thomas to also be on the podium. We got to make sure we keep on moving.”

It was a historic occasion – with the only previous Friday night season openers taking place at Abu Dhabi, in 2010 and 2011.

Jamie Whincup and Triple Eight had been undefeated, but Tickford ended that run emphatically.

FINDING THEIR FEET

WITH NEW tyres and formats, there was plenty of intrigue surrounding the unknowns.

Teams did not have much time up their sleeve, with only one half-hour practice session on offer ahead of qualifying.

Team 18 started impressively, taking a 1-2, spearheaded by new recruit Anton De Pasquale.

De Pasquale’s 1:30.0226s was a tenth faster than Nick Percat’s benchmark at the dramatic test day, where James Golding had caught fire and Aaron Love suffered a brake failure.

However, while Waters was officially down in 17th, his pace was on full display, posting purple sectors in the first two sectors before suffering a kerb strike.

Importantly, all cars got through

unscathed before the new two-part qualifying format, which caught some out.

Whilst Waters was untouchable, some big names struggled.

Will Brown was forced to start his title defence from 11th after just missing out, while the biggest moment surrounded James Golding. He looked easily destined for Q2, posting a purple first sector, only to be forced to back out due to Macauley Jones inexcusably getting in the way warming up his tyres at the penultimate corner.

While Jones apologised and accepted a three-place grid penalty, it was little consolation for Golding, who started 23rd and could not make any ground in the race.

Many struggled to improve late in the session due to the untimely arrival of sunlight.

With limited tyre availability and only eight minutes on the clock, drivers only had one bite of the cherry in the ‘Top 10’ fight for pole.

Not the last ... Waters consigns his race-winning tyres to the bin ...

Images: MARK HORSBURGH-EDGE PHOTOGRAPHY, PETER NORTONEPIC SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY, DMAC PHOTOGRAPHY

Above: Mostert and Randle reeled in early-stopper Payne (top right) . 2025 is getting off to a brilliant start for Waters and team boss Rod Nash.

As was the case all day, Waters blew them away and took it by a comfortable two-and-a-half tenths with a blistering 1:28.6908s.

Best of the rest was Broc Feeney, the lone Camaro in a sea of Mustangs, with Payne, Kostecki and Randle rounding out the top five.

Rookie Kai Allen impressed by getting the #26 Mustang into the top 10.

LIGHTS OUT

THE UNIQUE sight of Friday night lights to kick off a Supercars season arrived for 2025 with all eyes on the front row.

Feeney got the better initial getaway, but he could not stop Waters from taking control on the inside and the green-eyed Monster was never seen again.

The battle for third was intense as Payne and Kostecki rubbed doors all the way through Turn 2 with the Kiwi eventually prevailing on the inside.

Mostert then soon threw himself into the picture and soared to third. Brown had a wild ride out of Turn 7, but still clawed his way into the top 10.

It was a clean first lap, but the big loser was Allen.

The teenager stuffed up the launch and dropped from 10th to 18th – from which he could never recover, finishing the first race of his big year in 19th.

The strategy game started as early as lap five when Kostecki

boxed for two tyres, but the gamble did not pay off as he could not retain the top five position and finished his first DJR race in sixth.

‘STUPID MISTAKE’ COSTS FEENEY

WHILE WATERS was in a league of his own, Feeney had safely settled in as the next-best by keeping a train of Mustangs behind.

However, things took a sudden turn for the worse on lap 12 when the #88 got swallowed up by the Fords behind.

Feeney had suffered a flat left rear tyre, which delaminated at Turn 6 after he’d hung the rear over the track edge, meaning he had to crawl for half of the lap and, once he changed tyres he was 25th and last.

He fought back well to salvage 14th, but it was little solace as he lamented the “stupid mistake” which cost him a podium and valuable points.

“Unfortunately, on the lap that we were pitting, I had a slide and caught the edge at turn three and there’s a 30cm drop off there and got a puncture,” he said. “So, we went back to last, and got back to 14th.

“I’m pretty obviously gutted – it was just a stupid mistake, but it’s just such a fine line out there.”

Despite struggling in qualifying and missing the Shootout, Brown recovered well and used four fresh tyres to good effect to secure a hard-fought top five.

after they battled all the way down to the Turn 8 hairpin.

This brought Randle into play and the Tickford driver tried to sneak his way down the inside but could not find a way through after some rubbing.

Payne fought valiantly and pushed the contest all the way to the final lap – it was not until the Turn 8 hairpin that Randle muscled his way past and ensured Tickford started a big weekend with a double podium.

“We were on two tyres racing against people on four tyres and we almost got there. Third on the last lap and just lost it at the end. Pretty gutted,” Payne said after falling short.

BATTLE ROYALE

AS WATERS drove into the distance, three other Mustangs put on a battle to win the ‘Best of the Rest’ and it all came down to the death.

With Feeney out of the equation, Mostert, Payne and Randle were the combatants and they converged with three laps to go.

Payne had track position, but Mostert and Randle had a significant five-lap tyre advantage and reeled in the Grove Racing driver.

Mostert launched his attack at the bottom of the hill at Turn 4 and eventually made the move stick

“It was pretty intense across those last three laps with Matt and he put up a great defence and it came down to the last lap,” Randle recalled. “I was just trying to figure out where I could get the job done.”

Meanwhile, Mostert was simply thrilled to get a podium, let alone second:

“Did not expect that for sure and, even in the race, we did not have the best balance,” Mostert said.

“But we stuck to our strategy and ran a bit longer to have some more tyres … but did not think those last few laps we would get Matt.”

SATURDAY – NOTHING IN IT

A SATURDAY night spectacular won by Waters, having held off the raging Bulls, will go down in the Supercars history books and the memory bank for ever.

The longer 52-lap night affair produced not only the best race of the Gen3 era, but the closest finish on record.

After 199km, the race was not determined until the final metres as Waters used the side-draft and got his nose ahead of Feeney’s in a stunning drag race to the chequered flag.

The margin of victory was just 0.030 8s – by far the closest since records began in 1988, beating the 2016 Bathurst 1000 where Will Davison led Shane van Gisbergen home by 0.1434s, while there was also a famous scene at Adelaide in 1983 where a photo finish was required to split Allan Moffat and Peter Brock.

With Will Brown in tow 0.1996s back, it was also the closest top three ever, beating Paul Morris’ 2001 Calder Park finale success where 0.3742s covered the podium finishes.

As amazing as the numbers are, they only tell part of the story.

Waters and Feeney had been fighting from the moment the lights went out as they ran side-by-side through the first three turns before the Tickford Mustang won out.

But the big difference to the other races was that, for once, Waters was not in P1 for any great period of time.

A fiery Richie Stanaway engine failure brought an early Safety Car on lap seven and the whole field took the opportunity to service for fuel and tyres.

During the pit cycle, and despite a quick Tickford service, Waters was forced to delay leaving his pit box as Brown swooped into the Triple Eight bay in front, to ‘double-stack’..

That brief moment was just enough time to allow Feeney to snatch the lead from Waters.

As a result the #88 held track position deep into the final stint, while Tickford reacted by dragging out the #6’s second stint by four laps.

Despite getting fresher rubber, the move proved costly as not only the #6

lost 9s to Feeney, but it allowed both Brown and Mostert to sail past when he rejoined at Turn 2.

If Waters was going to go back-toback, he would need to do something special.

Having picked off Mostert and Brown with relative ease, the Green-Eyed Monster then set its sights on Feeney – and the battle for the lead exploded on lap 48.

Waters had a look at Turn 4, but contact sent Feeney into a spin.

Thinking quickly, the Tickford driver decided to redress the situation to avoid a penalty, but in doing so brought Brown into play and suddenly his mirrors were full of Red Bull.

The top three were now running as one, banging bumpers and doors around Corporate Hill and the end result of the madness was Feeney leading Waters and Brown.

Critically and notably the stewards accepted the redress and took no further action, which made it a freefor-all final sprint – and the fans loved it.

Having survived a cleaner second round on the penultimate lap, the status quo remained as Feeney led Waters by 0.8s when they took the white flag and started a final lap for the ages.

Feeney appeared to have Waters

covered at the hairpin despite a significant rub.

The Triple Eight driver deployed the same tactic at the final corner and received another tap from Waters, while Brown did the same to the Tickford rival.

Although Feeney entered the Brabham Straight leading, Waters still had an ace up his sleeve – he put his NASCAR experience to good use and performed the ‘side-draft’ to perfection, giving him just enough momentum over Feeney to sensationally steal an epic Sydney showdown that had everyone on their feet.

“That was absolutely awesome, I had so much fun,” an ecstatic Waters said as he got out of the car.

“We lost track position in that first pit stop, but we fought hard and never gave up.

“I had a crack at Broc, I had the front locked and I don’t think Broc realized it – but gave it (lead) back to him.

“We raced hard and a few tactics were played but I gave it my all.

“I ducked my head down under the steering wheel and tried to get everything I could with the side-draft and it got me across the line.”

Feeney was not as ecstatic for being on the other side of history:

“It was pretty hard racing and I got turned with three laps to go and then

Will got caught in the middle of it and all three of us were racing,” he said.

“I was struggling there at the end and copped a hit in the rear bar at the last corner. I think Cam tried to redress a bit, but I got slipstreamed at the end and there was nothing much I could really do.

“We are allowed to race a bit harder this year, so looking forward to it …”

BIG BRT BASH

ONLY SECONDS had elapsed before the first episode of Saturday Supercars drama arrived.

A communication breakdown between the Blanchard Racing Team teammates James Courtney and Aaron Love produced a bizarre incident at the start of Qualifying.

When the pair followed each other out of pit exit, Love led and veered right to warm up his tyres, while Courtney put the lights on and foot down to go past. But the rookie did not expect his more experienced teammate to do so and swung back towards the inside of the circuit and straight into the side of the #7.

Heavy contact was made between the crunching teammates, taking

Courtney out and leaving the veteran to take a lonely walk back.

Confusion reigned as both Courtney and Love told differing stories of the “unacceptable” clash:

“We agreed to get on with it and make sure we got the two laps and I was going past and he didn’t see me and weaved into me,” Courtney said. “It was agreed that was what we were going to do and I was surprised. We will the a chat now and see what comes of it.

“It plucked the corner out pretty hard, so the boys have a bit of work to do. We will have to do something spectacular from the back of the grid.”

However, Love said there was no such plan.

“It is not nice at all, especially when it is the sister car. From our point of view there was no plan for him to pass me so I had no idea he was going to pass me,” the youngster said.

“Unfortunately it is what it is and we

will have to review it later on and see why it happened.”

However, the stewards had no doubt, blaming Love – he was sent to the back of the grid and received a $2000 fine, half of which is suspended.

After an honest team meeting, both drivers gave the squad something to smile about in the race, both charging ahead from the last row across the 52 laps to finish 11th (Courtney) and 16th (Love) respectively. It was the #3 driver’s best result in 16 races and particularly impressive given he was spun on the opening lap by Kai Allen.

He was not the only one to fight back from early adversity as James Golding was rotated at the second corner. However, this did not deter him from charging from last to ninth.

Will Davison had a tough night, getting beaten up on one particular lap where a whack from Hill bent his

Ryan Wood also had a tough time, stalling the start and hitting Courtney when exiting the pits, while BJR could have had all four cars in the top 15 if it was not for Bryce Fullwood leaving the lane when a confusing red light was on. Behind the leading trio, the usual suspects – Mostert, Payne and Randle – filled the minors ahead of Anton De

steering before a locked-up Murray sent the #17 Mustang into a spin at Turn 6.

Pasquale, who showed some promise on Team 18 debut.

Prelude to final-corner drama – Feeney is harrassed by Waters, with Brown watching closely ... Image: MARK HORSBURGH. Opposite: Waters made the best of pole and got the inside running at the start. Below: The long, unhappy, walk after a needless intra-team fracas ... Images: PETER NORTON

The clouds looked ominous as the field poured through Turn 2 for the first time, but it didn’t rain ... that came on Sunday! Image: PETER NORTON

SUNDAY – SMOKE ON THE WATERS

TRIPLE EIGHT vowed to take the fight to Waters on Sunday, but that lasted just one lap as not even a late shower could deny the Green-Eyed Monster the full Sydney smash.

Fuelled by the previous night’s disappointment, Feeney gave it a redhot crack to get revenge on Waters off the line.

Having completed the front row on all three occasions, the final opening lap battle was the closest, with the pair banging doors through the high-speed Turn 1.

However, the high- risk move did not net the high reward for Feeney as he was hung out to dry on the outside of Turn 2.

This allowed teammate Brown to snatch the position and from there Waters was never headed.

His biggest threat was the weather as ominous clouds hovered over SMP. The rain did not arrive until the final seven laps, causing some hairy moments for the field as they tiptoed home on slicks.

But, as had been the case all weekend, Waters had an answer and he did not even have a scare in the conditions, cruising to another stunning 6s win.

It completed the Sydney sweep for the Tickford driver who, before the weekend, had never claimed back-to-back wins before in his

Not only was it a first for Waters, but also Tickford, which has never started a season so well.

It was an emphatic way to wrap up an emphatic weekend where the only session Waters did not top was opening practice.

To top it off, the #6 also set the fastest lap in each race.

In night, day and wet weather, Waters and the Monster Mustang was the combination for all conditions as they produced one of the most dominant weekends in modern Supercars history.

“I thought we were going to have fast cars this weekend, but not that fast,” he said.

“It’s awesome to be able to convert it when you’ve actually got a fast car. I can’t thank my team enough for giving me something this good, and the pit

stops were good, and we executed well.

“Even when it was kind-of a little bit wet at the end there, the car was still really fast.”

THE REST

AGAIN THE highest stakes battle was for second and there was late drama.

Having wrestled track position early on, Brown held the high ground and his position over Feeney was only strengthened at the final round of stops when the #88 lost 5s. Brown enjoyed an untroubled journey to second, but there was nothing comfortable about his teammate’s run home.

Despite spinning in the Shootout and starting 10th, Mostert had worked his way into podium contention by performing the undercut and, by the final 10 laps, he was Feeney’s

nearest competitor and the perfect opportunity to pounce presented itself on lap 44.

Feeney had caught up with Murray, who was out of position in eighth and the pair made contact approaching the penultimate corner.

This sent both Camaros wide, opening the door for Mostert to dive through and steal the final podium place.

A frustrated Feeney then made his displeasure clear by giving Erebus driver another whack on exit, spinning the #99, which then stalled before eventually carrying on.

To add insult to injury, Kostecki was also flying in the wet and he also blazed past the #88 to relegate it to fifth.

Feeney was not happy with the rookie, who received a 15s penalty for the clash.

“In the last stint we were just running around in a comfortable third and was passing someone who was pretty much three-quarters of a lap down, out of sync and just completely ran me off the road,” the Triple Eight driver

278-race career.

Waters, again, made the most of pole and fended off Feeney, Brown a fast-starting Golding, and Kostecki into Turn 2. Above: One minor hitch for the all-new ‘churn’ refuelling system which was, over-all, well-received. Opposite (top): Three poles, three wins, three fastest laps – they call that a whitewash ... Opposite (lower): James Golding recovered from being badly baulked in Race 1 qualifying to earn top 10s in Races 1 and 2. Images: PETER NORTON-EPIC SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

said. “Just got caught up in someone else’s incident.

“It probably should have been another podium today except for someone’s stupid mistake at the end of the day which cost me quite dearly.”

However, Murray said he wonders why he was given the blame from the stewards.

“The first thing is I was going to let him past down the straight, so all he had to do was wait two corners,” Murray said.

“Coming into (turn) nine he was at my rear bar and not one of us was giving up that position.

“He touched my rear bar and got loose so that is when we went off track and it all kicked off.

“I am not too sure what the penalty was in my situation. He caused it in the first place and caused the second issue.

“I am not really fussed – you live and you learn …”

Despite the rain, Sunday’s finale was a clean affair with the other notable incident involving Cameron Hill’s MSR car, which got its fuel churn stuck and stopping further down pit lane for assistance.

Everyone finished on slicks – both Le Brocq and Fullwood thought about playing the rain card, but both blinked just before they could reap the rewards.

The #9 still got a top 10, behind the resurgent Davison, while Fullwood was deep in the pack.

Waters walks away from his perfect weekend with 315 points, 60 more than the consistent Brown and Mostert.

All eyes now head to Albert Park where four Sprint races are on the menu with a side-show of F1 action on March 13-16.

I SEE RED

THE MOTOGP field has been put on notice with Marc Marquez delivering an emphatic and ominous perfect performance in his first weekend with Ducati’s factory team.

Marquez’s first round in the red of Ducati could not have gone any better as he won both the Sprint and Grand Prix from pole and, effectively, unchallenged.

It was a masterclass from the #93, leaving the rest to fight for the minors – and it was a family affair as brother Alex secured second, in both races, ahead of Francesco Bagnaia.

It was truely the perfect weekend for the Marquez family with the #93 leading the #73 in all the big sessions.

“It’s a dream. I cannot ask for more,” Marc Marquez said.

“We started this new journey with the pole position, double victory in the Sprint and Main race.

“I want to say thanks to the team because for me it’s important to feel good on the bike but even more so in the box – with Marco Rigamonti and all the mechanics, I feel super good ... even the team managers.

“I feel like they know me from 10 years ago. But I feel super good, and

this gave me the confidence.

“I’m riding in a very good way. Sharing the weekend with my brother is something unreal for my family. I cannot imagine the feeling of my father, mother and all the family.”

A big crowd of 224,634 ensured Thailand’s first MotoGP season opener was a success.

Marquez was not the only rider in new colours, with many significant changes up and down the grid including Australia’s Jack Miller.

Returning to Pramac, which has just started its new Yamaha satellite era after breaking away from Ducati, Miller made an immediate impact.

The Aussie qualified an impressive fourth and the best of the non-Ducatis.

The Sprint was all about the Marquez family with Marc never being threatened.

As a result, the battle was for second and Bagnaia made an early assault on Alex at the start, but was not successful and never threatened after that.

Miller looked set for sixth, but crashed out.

When it was time for the Grand Prix Marc again got a perfect start while there was contact between Bagnaia

and the younger Marquez – Alex. Alex was the loser, running wide and dropping to fourth, but he quickly fought back to second, highlighted by an aggressive move on Bagnaia.

Miller locked down fifth after an early battle with Ogura, but the Aussie also started to drift back and eventually dropped out of the top 10, to 11th, as Morbidelli charged from ninth to be best of the rest.

Lap seven saw an interesting development where Marc Marquez suddenly slowed on the exit of Turn 3 and not only lost his 1.5s advantage, but also the lead to brother Alex.

However, it ultimately only proved a brief blip on the radar than anything terminal as he only needed a lap to regain the time loss.

Despite the older brother looking much faster than his younger Gresini sibling, it was not until the very end that he decided to go on the attack.

He executed the move on the final corner of the 23rd lap, just four from home, and Alex offered little resistance.

Marc Marquez later revealed he was managing a tyre pressure issue and

had left the winning move late to ensure he stayed within the 1.8 bar of pressure minimum for 60% of the race – avoiding a penalty.

“I realised the tyre pressure was not enough, and then I was looking for a slipstream,” he said.

“And I had only three laps of margin, and for that reason I only overtook Alex with three laps to the end.

“But it was quite critical, because, with a penalty, it was a disaster.”

However, with the #93 being so dominant even with an issue, it makes riders fear how they can beat him at full strength.

“Marc was playing with us all the race, so [my] maximum ambition was to finish in P2 ... but I tried my best,” team-mate Bagnaia said.

It will be interesting to see if anyone can take the fight to Marc Marquez in Argentina on March 14-16.

Thomas Miles

MOTOGP THAI GP RESULTS

1: Marc Marquez 39:37.244

2: Alex Marquez +1.732

3: Francesco Bagnaia +2.398

4: Franco Morbidelli +5.176

5: Ai Ogura +7.450

Image: PACE IMAGES

Image: GETTY IMAGES

PRIMARY FACTORS

CHIP GANASSI’S Alex Palou

began his push for a third straight IndyCar title by taking out Florida’s St Petersburg Grand Prix, as any anticipated pre-race streetflag chaos was kept to the bare minimum.

Palou led home his team-mate Scott Dixon who went analogue for the season opener, as the ‘Ice-Man’ competed 90 of the 100 laps without team radio, a factor that would prove his undoing as the six-time champion hunted his first win on the streets of Florida.

With the only yellow flag coming on the first lap, any driver starting on the harder Primary tyre proved immediately up against it, and that included Penske’s Kiwi pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin who couldn’t shed the softer Alternate option early. Although ‘Scotty Mac’ would lead for 40 laps, it was the Soft rubber starters – including the eventual podium of Palou, Dixon, and Penske’s Josef Newgarden – that would ultimately have the luxury of one less pitstop.

McLaughlin would eventually come home in fourth, however, shaping up the neat looking Ganassi 1-2 and Penske 3-4.

“We knew that was the risk of running the Blacks (alternates),” the Kiwi stated.

“I think if it was a no-yellow first lap, we’re gone. It is what it is … a pole and a fourth, I can’t be unhappy with that.”

As for the dominant Spaniard – who has won three of the last four Astor Cup titles – Palou is now looking to become just the third driver since Ted Horn (1946-48) and Dario Franchitti (2009-11) to claim a hat-trick of championships.

After taking the permanent lead by 4.502 seconds on lap 75, after undercutting Dixon a revolution earlier,

a strong challenge from Newgarden was then thwarted in the final stretch.

The back-to-back Indy 500 winner cut the gap to under a second by the 95th, as Palou hit the dirty air of Sting Ray Robb before eventually making a pass to take it home by 2.866s, with Dixon then making a pass of his own on the final lap, for second.

“Our strategy changed a lot during that first yellow, but I’m so glad we got the #10 into Victory Lane,” Palou said.

“It’s been 138 days since Nashville (2024 season finale), and I’ve been dreaming about this every single night.”

As for the blind-flying Dixon, the 44-year old was watching his own fuel gauge and using every ounce of his 25 years of experience but, with his team unable to communicate, he left himself out a lap too late as he hit traffic he simply couldn’t predict.

“We were just kind-of flying blind out there,” Dixon lamented.

“Ultimately, I think they were trying to call me in because on that last lap we had before we pitted, there was just so much traffic, and we lost two or

three seconds. That’s where the #10 car got us.”

As for Aussie Will Power, the veteran’s 44th birthday celebrations didn’t bring him any luck as he entered his 21st season in North America. The record-winning pole-getter had one of his worst-ever Qualifying sessions on the Florida streets, before finding the rear of a checked-up Nolan Siegel on the opening lap, which also saw rookie Louis Foster taken out, as Power opened his year a lowly 26th.

“Just hate to start the season this way,” Power regretted.

“We’ve been strong starters the last few years with the #12 Verizon Chevrolet. Looking forward to Thermal and the points race there.”

Any redemption will have to wait until March 23, with Round 2 coming at the newly (points paying) promoted Thermal Club Grand Prix in California’s desert – a unique luxury motorsport club that last season hosted the (nopoints) million dollar race.

On that occasion, it was Palou that claimed the meal ticket

TW Neal

More of the same – Alex Palou has started 2025 where he finished 2024 – at the front. Below: Dixon soldiered on ‘alone’ for most of the race for a superb second.

Images: GETTY IMAGES

THREE-WIDE AGAIN AT ATLANTA

THE SECOND round of the NASCAR Cup Series, last week, gave up another photo finish after last year’s famous by-a-nose threewide thriller, with Christopher Bell surging to the front in overtime.

The Oklahoma native pipped sophomore driver Carson Hocevar and Kyle Larson as a caution flag came out on the white flag run, with the Joe Gibbs Racer a certainty to add the happy-snap to his photo album after proving him to be in the lead.

It was the only time he hit the front in taking his 10th career victory, with that also being his first victory on one of the big drafting tracks, and JGR’s first win since last June.

Bell was running high on the outside next to Hocevar when the last of 11 caution periods was sighted, and had himself about a half car length in front when the

yellow light appeared.

“I’ll tell you what, that right there is what you dream of,” an animated Bell said.

“To be able to restart on the first or second row on a restart at a Speedway ... you never know how those things are going to play out.

“But, I’ll be the first to tell you, ‘I love Superspeedways.’

“This style of racing has always been a little bit of a struggle for me.

Throughout the beginning of the day we were just stuck way in the back.

But Adam (Stevens-crew chief) and these boys just did an incredible job of getting this thing fixed up so I could just hold my foot down and you’ve got to be able to just stay in the throttle – and that last half of the race we ran our best.”

And whilst Hocevar’s finish was a career high for the Spire Motorsports racer, it was the prolific Larson that was unusually satisfied

with a P3 finish, owing to the fact that the big-three Speedways haven’t been a happy hunting ground for the 2021 champion (the record reads an astounding 0-for48).

Hocevar, who appeared to make some ‘sketchy’ moves on Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney, was confronted by the two veterans after the race, (Blaney spun into a turn with ill-timed bumper contact, whilst Bell also made contact with Larson on the final lap).

The young driver said afterward that he preferred to keep the postrace suggestions to himself ...

After Blaney had achieved pole for the outing, it was his team-mate and reigning series champion Joey Logano who led the majority of the laps with 83, but fell back to 12th amongst all the cautions.

Stage 1 was taken out by Berry, who was wrecked in the

backstretch of the final overtime, whilst Larson, who led 12 laps throughout, took out the second stage.

Of the 11 caution periods, eight of them were for wrecks in a chaotic night of racing, which included last year’s by-the-nose Atlanta winner Daniel Suarez.

As for Shane van Gisbergen’s outing, the Kiwi’s second race into his first full-time season saw him perform impressively and lead two racing laps before being shuffled back in the pack during the final stage. He was also caught up in the final wreck seeing him finish in 23rd – but with a road course ahead where he narrowly missed a win in the 2024 Xfinity series, he’ll be bullish about making an impact for a postseason berth.

That race was March-2’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA.

TW Neal

Image: PACE IMAGES

BELL DOES IT AGAIN

CHRISTOPHER BELL was victorious once again after emerging from an aggressive four-car battle on top in the NASCAR Cup Series race at COTA on Sunday.

Kyle Busch controlled the majority of the final stage, but could not stop Bell from overhauling him in an aggressive battle with just four laps to go.

Busch ended up drifting down to fifth behind runner-up Will Byron, Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott, who recovered from a first-corner spin, while Shane van Gisbergen was sixth.

Van Gisbergen controlled the majority of both the first and second stages, leading 20 of the 95 laps, but struggled all day with lack of traction.

Trackhouse rolled the dice on strategy with the final stop, keeping the #88 for four laps longer, but the Kiwi could not make the most of fresh tyres and after a brief ‘off’ was 8.5s short of victory.

For Bell, it was an impressive drive as he reeled in Busch and became the first driver since 2018 to win two of the first three races of a NASCAR Cup Series season.

After a fast start where Chase Elliott was spun, SVG needed just eight laps to take the lead off Reddick as he

controlled the opening stage before pitting late in the piece

The Kiwi then led the first six laps of Stage 2 before being dive-bombed by Busch.

Th RCR driver quickly pulled more than a second on the Kiwi, who was battling traction, but the #88 was soon mounting a fightback.

By lap 15 van Gisbergen slashed the deficit and launched an assault at Turn 6, which caught the RCR driver unawares.

Suddenly it was SVG who then pulled away as the stage ran troublefree aside for some late drama for Denny Hamlin.

The #88 pulled a 1.8s advantage before the leaders again pitted with two to go.

It proved well timed as it arrived moments before the front right wheel of Larson’s car departed the #5 Camaro on the back straight.

Ryan Preece took stage honours, but once the pit cycle was complete, Busch led Allmendinger and van Gisbergen at the restart.

Conor Zilich had shown speed on debut, but his race ended up in the fence in unlucky fashion.

Daniel Suarez had spun at the penultimate corner, creating a cloud

of smoke. Zilich could not avoid the spinning Trackhouse car and the impact sent the Red Bull Camaro into the outside wall.

Van Gisbergen got swamped at the restart and dropped to sixth after contact from Bell on the run up the hill.

Being released, Busch soon opened up a 1s lead on the pack which was now headed by Bell and Byron.

It was then all about strategy and RCR was the first to blink, pitting the leader with 26 laps left.

Bell waited another lap, while Trackhouse elected to keep SVG out there for another four laps. The gamble sacrificed a lot of track position with the #88 rejoining down in eighth, 13s adrift of the lead, but fresh rubber was hopefully the ace up its sleeve.

Van Gisbergen needed a caution and it arrived thanks to Hamlin and Dillon, who clashed at Turn 7.

On the run up to Turn 7 Hamlin locked up and lost control, sparking straight into Dillon and leaving the #3 stuck in the sand.

Before the disruption, van Gisbergen had picked off Briscoe to rise to sixth. However, he struggled to light up the fresh tyres when racing resumed with 14 to go.

The Kiwi got hung out to dry on the outside of Turns 2 and 16 which saw him fall to 10th while Ty Gibbs got spun.

Busch had retained the lead, but had Bell breathing down his neck, setting up an intense run home.

Bell went on the attack with nine to go at the first corner, but got it wrong and found himself in the clutches of Byron.

But the #20 only needed a handful of laps to regain ground as the top three ran nose-to-tail.

With six to go Bell got a run down Turn 2, but had to back out after making contact with Busch, only to make another attack later in the lap, which was also not successful.

It was a case of third time lucky as Bell finally got the overlap at the final corner – but he did not make it stick until the end of pit straight.

Having given it everything to defend the lead, Busch had little left and could not keep Byron behind.

The #24 then examined Bell’s rear bumper for the final five laps, but he could quite get close enough to steal the race.

The NASCAR Cup Series now heads to Phoenix Raceway this weekend.

Thomas Miles

From Superspeedway (opposite) to road circuit, it was an impressive double for Christopher Bell. Images: GETTY IMAGES

UNA FERRARI SPECIALE

THE MARANELLO Factory painted the podium red at the Qatar 1812km. It was a warning flag to the rest of the 2025 Hypercar field at the FIA World Endurance Championship’s opening round, in the Middle East.

The three BoP-favoured Ferrari 499P Hypercars crossed the line within three seconds of each other, with the 2024 Le Mans-winning #50 machine finishing 2.348s in front of the AF Corse #83 customer Ferrari, closely tailed by the pole-getting #51 factory LMH.

It marked the factory team’s first top tier win anywhere other than at the Circuit de la Sarthe in the WEC, something it hasn’t achieved since Jacky Ickx and Brian Redman won at the Nurburgring in a Group 5 312PB in 1973.

Over an epic 318 laps at the

Losail Circuit there were plenty of narratives to spill out – from the Cadillac could’ve-beens, a toothless Porsche defence, the successfully

middling Toyota, to the spin-andwin of Antonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen.

The Ferrari’s were rapid, but so too

were the Jota Cadillacs and BMWs, with the two Cadillacs involved in a calamitous collision at the front of the field in a third-hour restart – as Jenson Button n braked at the pit lane entry under Safety Car, the sister car cannoned into the rear, causing big damage.

As for BMW, it’s a “watch this space.” They’ll challenge for one this season, with its #14 V8 hybrid 9.907s back in fourth, whilst electrical issues plagued the #15.

Aston Martin’s virgin V12 Valkyries expectedly struggled as it played catch-up to its fellow giants, with the #007 retiring with transmission issues after 181 laps, while the #009 sensationally lost a door in the first hour, then struggled to the chequered flag, 23 laps down.

The Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen Ferrari 499P heads for victory – a Ferrari 1-2-3. Above: The new Aston Martin Valkyrie debuted but struggled with predictable ‘new-car’ issues. Opposite top: Turn 1 at the start, and red is already domionating ... Right: Yasser Shahin took out third in an 18-car contest in LMGT3 with Team WRT. Images: GETTY IMAGES

As for Toyota, the defending Manufacturer champions vocally didn’t expect much on the fast Losail track, but the Japanese squad viewed its fifth/sixth finish as an unlikely points win.

12 months ago, Porsche took a 1-2-3 of its own in Qatar, but the Penske operated #5 and #6 963s were way off the mark for pace in 10th/11th, with both failing to even reach the top-10 Hyperpole in the lead-up. Despite both taking punctures in their Michelins, they wouldn’t have gained many more spots anyway.

As for the twin French Alpine A424 and Peugeot’s 9X8s, the former showed plenty of pace but seemingly lacked any clean approach, whilst the Parisian commune squad could do little but meddle (all-be-it entertainingly) in the mid-pack.

The factory Ferraris dominated early before being caught out in an FCY, where the quick Cadillac’s moved into a short lived 1-2.

The pole-sitting 499P team did remarkably well to take third after receiving a host of penalties including speeding in pit lane, two drive-through VSC infringements, one for contact with the #20 BMW, and another for an off-track overtake.

The winners had their own tangle, with the #15 Bavarian make, spinning after making contact at the halfway mark.

“Luckily we didn’t touch hard – I think the car was quite ok,” Fuoco said.

“We came here with really good preparation and we showed the work in the winter was worth it. To secure P1-P2-P3 for the team sets us up for the rest of the season.”

In LMGT3, the McLarens largely controlled portions of the race whilst Lexus also led early with strong pace, but it was the TF Sport’s #33 Corvette Z06 GT3.R in a thriller via a Daniel Juncadella GT3 masterclass, with the final gap coming down to just 0.493s over the #59 McLaren. Round 2 for the WEC is the perfectly-placed 6 Hours of Imola on April 20, with the boisterous tifosi sure to drape the stands in a heaving sea of red.

It’s not even June, but it feels like something special is on the cards for Ferrari in ’25.

Timothy William Neal

WEC QATAR 1812KM RESULTS

Ferrari #50 (Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen) : 318 laps

Ferrari #83 (Hanson/Kubica/Ye): + 2.3 s

Ferrari #51 (Calado/Giovinazzi/Pier Guidi): + 2.7 s

BMW #15 (Magnussen/Marciello/Vanthoor): + 9.9 s

Toyota #8 (Buemi/Hirakawa/Hartley): + 19.6 s

2005: AMBROSE OFF TO NASCAR

MARCOS AMBROSE has sent the V8 Supercar fraternity into a spin with his decision to leave for the America NASCAR series in 2006, vacating the most prized seat in Australia.

Ambrose announced the bombshell during the 2005 Australian Grand Prix weekend, on the even of his final V8 Supercars season with SBR.

His move to America was first mentioned in AA way back in June 2003 and he has received the full blessing of Ford Australian and SBR, with Ross Stone revealing they are releasing him from his contract one year early.

Although Ambrose’s plans to move into NASCAR are “very liquid” at present, he’ll head to

1975

Colin Bond kick started the 1975 Australian Touring Car Championship with victory at Symmons Plains.

The new HDT star after the departure of Peter Brock dominated but just 4s behind was Murray Carter in his two-door Falcon.

Bob Morris drove a locally prepared L34 Torana to third while Allan Grice overcame a shredded tyre to be fourth.

Grice had been engaged in a fierce battle with Alan Moffat’s Falcon.

There was big news in the rally world with Bob Watson making a welcome return in a Timo Makinen RAC Rally winning Ford Escort in the Don Capasco Rally.

America next month to begin the groundwork.

He will attend the Phoenix round of the Nextel Cup and Busch Series on April 23-24, before heading to North Carolina for a seat fitting.

Ambrose’s program will have the full support of Ford USA, but it will only provide contacts and opportunities for the Tasmanian, so he is expecting to have to work hard to earn a drive.

The chance came about through Ford Racing boss Dan Davis who spoke with Ambrose during his recent trip to Daytona 24 Hour.

Ambrose says he is fully prepared to work through deeper Craftsman and Busch Series in the hope of reaching the premier

1985

Peter Brock gave the new Group A Mobil Holden Commodore a perfect start at Sandown.

In the car’s debut at the second ATCC round of 1985, Brock produced a tactical masterclass.

The #05 raced away as Jim Richards and Dick Johnson were caught in some early race congestion.

Although Richards sprinted home in the BMW, Brock held on by 1.7s while Alan Jones was fourth as the under 3000cc class winner. Work at Calder Park was in full swing to make the Thunderdome happen with the first sign of hopes to bring a NASCAR 500km race to Australia.

Nextel Cup.

“Im the first guy to say to you, I know what NASCAR is all about,” he said.

“It is not about going around in circles. I understand it behind the scenes.

“I understand how difficult it must be to get the car working well on those ovals.

“The fact that its on an oval entices me even more.

“Im confident I have got the attributes and I’m going to take my time to learn the skill.

“Time will tell whether I can adapt.”

On track, the V8s produced three different winners at Albert

1995

Australia and the racing world mourned the passing of Bathurst 1000 winner Gregg Hansford. Hansford passed away after he lost control of his Ford Mondeo coming out of the first corner in a two-litre race at Phillip Island. Hansford went head on into the inside wall at over 200kmh and bounced back on to the track and collided heavily with the helpless Mark Adderton. Hansford was twice the runner-up in the world 250cc championship in the 1970s before moving to Australia and winning the 1988 Sandown 500 and 1993 Bathurst 1000. Speaking before the first and tragic race, Hansford had expressed enthusiasm, having been a frustrated part-time racer for seven years. He was 43.

A new F1 regulation era arrived with a new team on top – with Giancarlo Fisichella beating Ferrari to claim a dramatic opener where Red Bull debuted with David Coulthard (fourth) and rain had a big say on Saturday ...

2015

Supercars revealed the new Gen2 Supercar, which it hoped would bring more manufacturers to the sport in 2017. The new rules allowed other engine configurations alongside V8s and also two-door bodies to be introduced – that split opinions up and down the grid. “I’m very confident that we will be welcoming some new manufacturers to the grid in 2017,” then Supercars CEO James Warburton said. Lexus revealed interest in Supercars and became the new Safety Car supplier, but ultimately no new manufacturers came – however, the Mustang did change things from 2019 onwards.

In F1, the McLaren Honda partnership had a disastrous start with returning star Fernando Alonso hospitalised from a testing crash.

Park with Todd Kelly, John Bowe and Mark Skaife victorious from the dramatic sprint races.

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